Zebra's identification technology ensures patient safety at Denia hospital

Zebra Technologies has been selected to contribute its technology in the patient identification area of the Denia hospital, the first in Spain that does not use paper in its activities and that has obtained the level 7 by the Society of Information systems and Management in Health (HIMMS), the highest in this sector.

The hospital of Denia, in the community of Valencia, is the first Spanish clinical center and the second in Europe that has achieved the level 7, the maximum accredited by the Society of Information Systems and Management in Health (HIMMS), that certifies that it is one hundred percent digital, after having implanted the electronic medical record for all the documentation related to their patients.

This ambitious project began in 2007 when the Valencian Ministry of Health called a public tender that the provider won Zebra Technologies, to implant patient identification wristbands. In this case, Zebra technology plays a dual role: on-site printing of labels for analytical tubes where extraction takes place, either in the nursing units of the hospital or in the extraction rooms of the health centers, and the identification of patients who are treated in the hospital on a non-outpatient basis.

As Vicent Moncho explains, Director of Information Technology Systems at the Hospital of Denia, "in 2007 we were immersed in an electronic medical record project (EHR) linked to a North American supplier, and we needed to choose devices that we could trust and that were compatible with the software used to date. We chose Zebra Technologies as a provider of patient identification solutions, since they guaranteed us a safe success in a critical project such as managing a hospital that has the level 7 of HIMMS".

Today, to print these identification bracelets, the Zebra HC100 model is used, designed specifically for this function. For its part, the model of these bracelets is Z-Band Direct, which is characterized by antimicrobial coating, their durability and the security they provide throughout the patient identification process.

Forward-thinking hospital

The challenge of not using paper consumables in this center began in 2007, a year in which IT investment in healthcare organizations was very limited. However, the hospital of Denia installed electronic systems in each of the areas of the health process, becoming the first in its sector that did not use paper since its opening, in the year 2009.

Thanks to the digital system implemented in the hospital, the electronic medical record that is generated for each patient is also associated with it all kinds of scans, surgical interventions, medication, discharges or outpatient consultations, among other information, of each patient.

One of the essential programs in this resource optimization environment is Cerner Millennium, one of the Hospital Information System (HIS) most used worldwide, in which the EHR software that manages all the care activity in the hospital is integrated, and that it began to be implemented together with the rest of Zebra's solutions in 2007.

This software makes it easy for patients and doctors to document their clinical notes online, so that healthcare professionals can instantly access the latest patient data from anywhere in the Healthcare Network of the Department of Health of Denia.

"When in 2012 we reach the level 6 of himms certification, we were already giving value to our electronic medical record, because in this degree the information is shared in a transversal way and carries associated medical orders -recalls Vicent Moncho-. Also, doctors prescribe treatments only through the system. At the level 7 current paper is not used, not even to develop the care plan that the nursing area has to follow. Today, all the information is in the system and it's digital.".

Patient safety on a single screen

The Society of Information systems and Management in Health (HIMMS) has considered that one of the differentiating and positive aspects of the Denia hospital with respect to other Spanish and European centers is the operation of its drug administration system.

"With the closed medication circuit we contribute to the safety of the patient thanks to the fact that it reaches its bedside. The nurse, after identifying the patient with the barcode and the precise information that appears on the bracelet, you can check that everything is correct: the patient, medication, the dose, the time and route of administration. All this on one screen", points out Moncho.

Zebra's Z-Band Direct identification bracelets are key to ensuring safety in patient care throughout their hospitalization and allow a check, both visual and electronic, of your status through the reading of the identifying barcode, which serves to check if the correct test or test will be performed on the patient.

These bracelets have a fundamental weight in terms of safety and comply with all the health requirements that govern a hospital. These bracelets are printed using the HC100, the world's first printing solution specially designed for this use.

"Having technology like Zebra's makes us sure that the patient will always be well controlled thanks to the Z-Band Direct bracelets, that provide health personnel with all the data they need to know at a glance and with the confidence that it is the right bracelet -assures the director of the hospital of Denia-. In addition, thanks to its durability and materials, makes it perfectly readable for much longer".

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