title: A safe practice standard for barcode technology.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Safety advocates have identified barcode verification technology as an important tool to improve health-care practices.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated the evidence for the role of barcode technology in improving a wide range of medication safety outcomes across a broad range of settings. Important implementation issues were highlighted to guide standards for the safe adoption of barcode technology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Adverse drug events are common, occurring frequently in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Although approximately half of all preventable adverse drug events in inpatients result from medication errors arising from transcription, dispensing, and administration, these errors are far less likely to be caught than in any of the earlier stages of the medication use process and are therefore most amenable to improvement. When integrated with electronic medication administration records, barcode systems are associated with complete elimination of transcription errors. Furthermore, barcode-assisted dispensing systems are associated with 93% to 96% reductions in dispensing errors, and 85% reductions in potential adverse drug events in dispensing. Most studies have reported large and significant reductions in administration errors by up to 80% after implementation of barcode medication administration systems. Although most studies of barcode technology have been conducted in the adult inpatient setting, the limited data available also support their benefit in pediatric and outpatient settings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is growing evidence for the efficacy of barcode solutions in improving overall medication safety. Standards for the implementation of barcode technology are proposed.
authors.affiliation: From the *Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; †Texas Medical Institute of Technology, Austin, Texas; and ‡Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Alexander A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: Charles R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Denham
authors.forename: Tejal K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Gandhi
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bane
authors.forename: William W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Churchill
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Bates
authors.forename: Eric G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Poon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D016303:Clinical Pharmacy Information Systems / Q000592:standards*; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; D001330:Electronic Data Processing / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D061214:Patient Safety; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care