Raising The Bar on Medication Safety
Mercy's number one priority is to provide the best possible care for you, our patient. Therefore, we have implemented a medication administration system called Bedside Medication Verification/electronic Medication Administration Record (BMV/eMAR) throughout the inpatient areas at Mercy. To ensure you are receiving the right medication at the correct dosage, a nurse will use a handheld scanner to scan your wristband and the medication to make sure they match.
Mercy's commitment to providing patient-centered care with a focus on quality and safety is the reason we have implemented the bar coding system. Patients will see the following changes with the implementation of BMV/eMAR:
- Professionals scanning your wristbands and verbally verifying your name to ensure you are the "right patient."
- Professionals scanning bar-coded medication to verify you are receiving the right medication at the right time.
- Patient wristbands with standardized Iowa color-coded alerts. The color-coded clips are part of a state-wide system for identifying unique patient needs such as fall risk, allergies and patient resuscitation to the patient care staff.
Bar-coded medication administration is considered much safer and an ultimate goal of most healthcare organizations. While 23% of U.S. hospitals have adopted bar code technology to ensure safety during medication administration, only half have fully implemented the technology.*
Mercy is proud to be part of that select group of hospitals that have fully implemented bar-coded medication technology.
*Source: American Hospital Association, Forward Momentum: Hospital Use of Information Technology, 2005
