Barcoding in Healthcare

Barcodes in Healthcare A Critical Solution

A report by Dr Robert A Hankin, President and CEO, Health Industry Business Communications Council (HIBCC)

Bar code technology has been available and widely implemented in non-healthcare settings for decades. Historically, bar coding has been viewed by the healthcare industry as strictly a logistics tool, meant to organise and automate inventory management. Its benefits were seemingly limited to the cost savings associated with automated processes that eliminate and reduce the opportunity for human error. However, recent reports of the high rate of medical error and the ever-increasing costs of healthcare delivery have begun to change this perception. Now it seems, the use of bar codes has as much to do with safety and quality assurance as it does with automation and cost containment.

Recent findings on the prevalence of medical error and its impact on patient safety have necessitated the adoption of control measures in the healthcare delivery process. As such, healthcare device and drug manufacturers and healthcare providers are increasingly held to a higher degree of accountability and liability. Meanwhile, pressures to rein in costs, coupled with dramatic improvements in information technology, have led the industry towards e-commerce. Increasingly, efforts to recover ‘lost charges’, i.e. product consumption in hospitals that cannot be accounted for because it cannot be tracked, have revealed the direct financial benefits of bar code systems.

Creating integrated communications systems to support supply chain and care-giving activities depends on industry-wide acceptance and use of standards-based bar code data. Technological advances in scanning technology now make it possible for manufacturers to source mark durable medical equipment and supplies successfully, even at the smallest ‘single use’ packaging levels. At the same time, dramatic reductions in the cost of bar code readers have made the technology highly affordable for hospitals.

The use of bar codes requires a logical and consistent method for designing them. Standards provide users with a formula to accomplish these goals in a manner that can be followed throughout the healthcare system by all parties involved.

The Health Industry BarCode (HIBC)

Standard The Health Industry Bar Code (HIBC) Standard was developed nearly two decades ago when it was determined that the retail-based standards were inadequate for the specific requirements of healthcare applications.

The HIBC Standard was designed for critical applications such as medical product identification and device tracking. As such, it utilises a variable length, alphanumeric data structure that is consistent throughout packaging levels, enabling the implementation of secure and efficient tracking processes in both domestic and global markets.

The HIBC Standard is approved by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). It is administered by the Health Industry Business Communications Council (HIBCC), an accredited standards development organisation that has affiliates throughout Europe.

The HIBC Standard includes both a primary and an optional secondary label. The HIBC primary label includes the labeller identification code (a unique fourcharacter alphanumeric identifier assigned and maintained by HIBCC), the labeller’s product or catalogue number and the packaging level (see Figure 1).

The HIBC secondary label is used at the discretion of the labeller and provides the capability of adding additional data to bar code labels, such as expiry date, lot number, quantity, batch number and serial number. These attributes are especially important for pharmaceuticals and medical devices, the uses of which can have direct impact on the health and safety of a patient. In a situation of recall due to defect or failure, having this information resident on the product can enable fast and efficient tracking.

When label space does not allow for the use of a normal, linear bar code, HIBC labellers may choose to utilise HIBC small package symbol. The HIBC small package symbol uses the Data Matrix bar code, which requires the least amount of label space of any available bar code (see Figures 2). Data Matrix is also appropriate for marking products such as implantable medical devices that require a higher level of print durability than can be achieved adequately with standard labelling.

Data Matrix can be marked or etched directly onto any surface, including low contrast or reflective materials such as metal, plastics and foil packaging, and still be read reliably (see Figure 3). It is currently being used for marking implantable devices, surgical instruments and small packages of medical products.