What is Scan4Safety all about?
This Department of Health (DoH) project is fundamentally aimed at improving patient safety. It does however also track a patient’s journey through the hospital and enables the recording of activities involving the use/administration of medicines and consumables in that patient’s treatment. It does this using enablers that link to Patient, Product, Place and Process.
The former 3 can be clearly identified using GS1 standards (identifiers)
- GSRN – Global Service Relationship Number (available for Patients and Care Givers)
- GTIN – Global Trade Identification Number
- GLN – Global Location Number
Ingenica 360 IM healthcare solution was the first GS1 Approved solution in the UK Healthcare market and fully encompasses the functionality to deal with these Identifiers recording GLN’s against each hospital location. All products used and managed can have their GTIN’s loaded as their key identifier on their item card (which also records all product information including that for PEPPOL transmission). GSRN’s can be recorded for both Patients and for Care Givers. These are simple to record through mobility device scanning technology.
Of course, a further aim of Scan4Safety is to standardise processes and our Ingenica solution addresses this with a flexible approach to the best process that fits the environment (Previous experience tells us a ‘one size fits all’ approach rarely works) but still delivers the essential outputs and benefits described below:
- Point of care scanning and recording of:
- What’s administered
- To whom
- By whom
- Where
- Full traceability of products and usage – for ease of (and faster) recall or quarantine.
- Full visibility and trace ability of Products held from receipt to consumption or wastage / disposal.
- Automated ordering – no discrepancies
- Reduced stock levels held (and increased stock turn)
- Reduced wastage and obsolescence
- Much improved data quality and usefulness
- Increased opportunity to benchmark (inputs and outcomes)
- Increased opportunities for standardisation (not just products, but terminology, coding and processes)