Atlantic General Hospital recently implemented a new technology called
electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR), an emerging technology
which uses barcodes on both the medication and patient that are scanned
at the bedside before the medication is administered.
According to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association, approximately thirty-eight percent of medication errors across
the nation occur at the point when the medication is actually administered
to the patient. eMAR technology greatly reduces the number of errors that
occur at this step.
At AGH a quick scan of the patient’s wrist band eMAR will compare
the patient’s information including weight, height, diagnosis and
allergies with the medication itself to verify the "5 rights"
-- the right patient, right drug, right dose, right route, and right time.
This kind of technology, which is utilized by less than fifteen percent
of hospitals nationwide, was a high priority for Atlantic General Hospital
. “Atlantic General’s extraordinary commitment to patient
safety was clearly behind our implementation of this cutting edge, point-of-care
technology” said Murray Oltman, Director of Information Services.
eMAR is just one more measure that will allow the hospital to keep in line
with their Medication Safety Standards as well as those of the Joint Commission
on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), the national hospital
accrediting body.
"Our primary goal every day is to make sure each patient's stay
is as safe and as comfortable as possible,” said Anne Waples, patient
safety coordinator at Atlantic General Hospital . “eMAR is one more
process we have instituted to assist us in meeting that goal."