Barcodes
A “no-mistakes sponge system” — bar-coded sponges in the OR
By Jerry Fahrni on September 13, 2017
While not directly related to pharmacy, the SurgiCount Safety-Sponge System is kinda’ cool. The system uses low-tech barcode technology to prevent surgical sponges from being left behind in patients. Simple yet effective. “The system uses sterile bar-coded sponges and a computer tablet loaded with proprietary software to ensure that all sponges are tracked. After approximately 11 […]
Posted in Medication Safety | Tagged Barcode, Barcodes, Patient Safety | Permalink | Leave a response
Aethon launches TraySafe at #ASHPSM15 in Denver
By Jerry Fahrni on June 9, 2015
I’ve been at the ASHP Summer Meeting in Denver this week roaming the exhibit hall looking for interesting new products. One product that caught my attention was TraySafe by Aethon. TraySafe is a medication tray management system. There are several such systems currently on the market, but what makes TraySafe different is its approach to […]
Posted in Pharmacy Practice | Tagged ASHP Summer Meeting, Barcodes, Pharmacy Automation, Pharmacy Practice | Permalink | 1 Response
Saturday morning coffee [July 14 2012]
By Jerry Fahrni on July 14, 2012
So much happens each and every week that it’s hard to keep up sometimes. Here are some of the taps that are open in my browser this morning along with some random thoughts…. The coffee mug to the right was part of a Pharmacy Week swag bag when I was still a real pharmacist. Pharmacy Week […]
Posted in Saturday Coffee | Tagged Android, Apple, Barcodes, Pharmacy Practice | Permalink | Leave a response
More problematic barcodes
By Jerry Fahrni on October 12, 2010
Recently I’ve heard of hospitals having problems with barcodes on pre-mixed IV bags. The problem isn’t related to the legibility or quality of the barcodes, but rather the location and/or the information contained within the barcode itself.
Posted in Barcoding, Medication Safety | Tagged Barcodes, Barcoding, BCMA, BPOC, Patient Safety | Permalink | 3 Responses
Using bar codes and a cell phone camera to avoid food allergies
By Jerry Fahrni on October 7, 2009
ScanAvert is an application that uses the camera on your cell phone to read product bar codes and compare the ingredients to a personalized allergy list on the company website. The product was launched at the Health 2.0 conference in San Francisco this week and is apparently still in the beta phase. Consumers register for […]
Posted in Medication Safety, Mobile Computing | Tagged Barcodes, Medication Safety, Mobile phone, Patient Safety | Permalink | Leave a response
Thoughts on creating a BCMA cross reference file
By Jerry Fahrni on October 6, 2009
Our facility is gearing up to implement bar code medication administration (BCMA) in February 2010. Part of getting ready is making sure that all the medications dispensed from the pharmacy are bar code ready. If the medication isn’t bar coded or won’t scan, then it won’t do the nurse much good at the bedside. We’re […]
Posted in Barcoding | Tagged Barcodes, Barcoding, BCMA, MAK | Permalink | 4 Responses
Pediatric labels for bar code medication administration (BCMA)
By Jerry Fahrni on September 9, 2009
One of the questions marks surrounding BCMA, known as MAK in Siemens language, is how to label pediatric oral syringes. Unlike most adult unit-dosed medications, pediatric dosages come in a variety of sizes. Where an adult patient may receive 25mg of captopril, a pediatric patient may receive a range of doses based on weight (0.15-0.3 […]
Posted in Barcoding | Tagged Barcodes, BCMA, MAK, Siemens | Permalink | 6 Responses
“What’d I miss?” – Week of June 29th
By Jerry Fahrni on July 3, 2009
As usual there were a lot of things that happened during the week, and not all of it was pharmacy or technology related. Here’s a quick look at some of the stuff I found interesting.
Posted in What'd I miss | Tagged Archos 9, Barcodes, box office, Lantus, Twitter, windows 7 | Permalink | Leave a response
RFID vs. barcode
By Jerry Fahrni on July 3, 2009
Barcode.com: “RFID, or radio frequency technology, uses a tag applied to a product in order to identify and track it via radio waves. The 2 parts that make up the tag are an integrated circuit and an antenna. While the circuit processes and stores information, the antenna transmits signals to the RFID reader, also called […]
Posted in Barcoding, RFID | Tagged Barcodes, RFID | Permalink | Leave a response
Apple patent details RFID tag reader.
By Jerry Fahrni on July 2, 2009
9to5mac.com: “RFID reader built into the screen? We’re not quite sure why they’d need to do this (as opposed to putting the reader somewhere else in the device) but Apple has put a patent application on this.” – In addition, the US Patent and Trademark Office lists the following: “The efficient incorporation of RFID circuitry […]
Posted in iPhone, RFID | Tagged Barcodes, iPhone, RFID | Permalink | 1 Response