Zebra identification technology guarantees patient safety at the Denia hospital

Zebra Technologies has been selected to contribute its technology in the area of ​​patient identification at 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 Health Information and Management Systems (HIMMS), the highest in this sector.

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

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

As Vicent Moncho explains, Director of Information Technology systems at the Denia hospital, "in 2007 We were immersed in an electronic medical record project (HCE) 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 choose Zebra Technologies as a provider of solutions for patient identification, since they guaranteed us certain success in a critical project such as managing a hospital that has the level 7 from HIMMS”.

Currently, To print these identification bracelets, the Zebra HC100 model is used., designed specifically for this function. For your 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.

Hospital with a vision of the future

The challenge of not using paper consumables in this center began in 2007, a year in which investment in IT in healthcare organizations was very limited. However, The Denia hospital installed electronic systems in each of the areas of the healthcare 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 also has all types of examinations associated with it., surgical interventions, medication, high or external 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, which integrates the EHR software that manages all healthcare activity in the hospital, and that it began to be implemented along with the rest of Zebra solutions in 2007.

This software makes it easier for patients and doctors to document their clinical notes online, so that health professionals can instantly access the most recent patient data from any point in the Care Network of the Denia Health Department.

“When in 2012 we reach the level 6 HIMMS certification, we were already giving value to our electronic medical record, because at this level the information is shared transversally and has associated medical orders -recalls Vicent Moncho-. In addition, 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. Nowadays, “All the information is in the system and is digital”.

Patient safety on a single screen

The Society of Health Information and Management Systems (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 medication administration system..

"With the closed medication circuit we contribute to patient safety thanks to the fact that it reaches the patient's 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, time and route of administration. All this on a single screen”, Moncho points out.

Zebra Z-Band Direct identification bracelets are key to ensuring safe patient care throughout their hospitalization and allow for verification, both visual and electronic, of its status through reading the identifying barcode, which is used to check if the test will be performed on the correct 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 purpose-built printing solution.

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