PATI ENT SAFE T Y
authentic and the product can be dispensed. In addition to verifying the authenticity of the UI, the recall status and shelf life of the product is also checked automatically, preventing recalled or out of date products being used. The second safety feature is a tamper evident device e.g. a label, which ensures the contents of the pack have not been altered or replaced. Although the barcodes are easy to scan and IT repository systems designed to provide almost immediate verification responses, there is still an impact on the logistic operations of hospitals. Over 100,000 pharmacies have connected to the system across the EU and retail/ community pharmacies typically integrate the UI verification process into their workflows, usually at the point the medicine is picked and dispensed. The hospital environment is significantly different to the retail setting due to factors such as the volume and variety of medicines received, and the fact that the majority of products are administered to a patient. Workflows that work in retail pharmacies are not appropriate in the hospital setting and hospitals have had to set up specific processes to verify the UIs, usually as part of the incoming goods operations. With hundreds and thousands of packs being received every single day, these processes can consume additional resources and it is not unusual for between one and four people to be required to carry out these tasks, depending on the volumes involved.
How hospitals are responding Faced with an increase in staff to verify medicines, some hospitals have started to address this challenge. The use of robotics and conveyor systems are helping to reduce the manual labour involved. Combining the verification step with other activities which require the packs to be manually handled is also reducing duplication of effort. Hospitals that participated in research expected around 80% of medicinal packs
could be processed using automated means and were working towards establishing that capability. This could significantly reduce the additional headcount and make verification more efficient.
Moving beyond detection of fake products
The EU FMD has brought about the standardisation of medicinal product identification and common 2D barcodes on all prescription medicines. This enables hospitals to leverage further benefits and opportunities which were difficult to realise before this level of harmonisation and barcoding prevalence.
One of the features of the new 2D DataMatrix barcode is that, in addition to the
UI, it also contains the product code, batch/ lot number and expiry date. The ability to scan this data using the 2D DataMatrix, capture it in systems and then utilise this, opens up many opportunities for hospitals for example: l Error reduction during data capture and pack handling.
l Closer integration with existing processes. l More use of automation equipment and robotics.
l Access to digital data and services leveraging the barcode.
l Increased interoperability through product identification and data.
Benefit types and where they occur The report’s research drew from a broad range of primary and secondary sources in order to identify benefits. These benefits were grouped into three broad categories: (1) Improved Patient Safety, (2) Operational Efficiencies and (3) Enhanced Clinical Effectiveness. These are not mutually exclusive, and many initiatives showed results across several of these benefit types. By following the flow of medicines through the supply chain it was clear that benefits also occur across the entire product flow, from goods-in through to administration to the patient. Various functions within a hospital are able to make use of the 2D DataMatrix.
The logistics and procurement functions are better able to manage the order to cash processes including purchasing of medicines, receiving, inventory management and demand planning. Many hospitals
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