Barcode system to correctly identify patient samples

25 Oct 2010

Yorkshire company Brenmoor will be unveiling a new medical sample identification system at this year's MEDICA exhibition in Dusseldorf in November.

Every day thousands of patient’s samples are lost, misled or mixed up due to human handwriting errors — an issue that is causing huge problems with sample specimen collection and point-of-care testing.

The Brenmoor PATscan system duplicates patient’s information from a printed wristband straight onto a label in less than a second — putting an end to miss-identified hospital samples.

It is supplied already coded so it works straight out of the box; all nursing staff have to do is scan a barcode on the patient identity wristband and immediately a label with the correct patient demographic is produced.

The label can then be applied to a variety of sample tubes or bottles, specific patient drugs, swabs and anything else that needs to be identified as belonging to a patient. Brenmoor will also be showcasing their range of printed identification wristbands at the exhibition, a concept they are looking to roll out in hospitals globally.

Printed identification wristbands ensure patients are correctly identified throughout their stay in hospital and contain a barcode, the patient's name and their date of birth.

Like the PATscan system, the wristbands are easy to print, extremely comfortable for the patient and are resistant to soaps, alcohol, water and other commonly used chemicals used in hospitals.

Brenmoor supply more printable wristbands into UK hospitals than any other supplier and are keen to introduce their pioneering range of wristbands and other identification products into new European markets.

Paul Brennan of Brenmoor, said: “There is an urgent need to reduce identification errors in the vast majority of hospitals throughout the world and we believe that printed identification on sample labels and patient wristband is the solution.

“Our systems are easy-to-use and eliminate human errors forever. We will be at MEDICA 2010 to raise the awareness and benefits of printed identification and are eager to source new distribution partners across the globe.”