ATLAS EMAR Ideas Portal
It would be good if we could print barcodes for medication that is dispensed without barcode. This ill improve audit trail but also help when barcodes become damaged by liquids.
QR/Barcodes could be generated for each medication.
We have a significant problem with Pharmacy's no barcoding items or acute items coming from another pharmacy which impacts on Scorecard %.
Hi Chris,
Thank you for your suggestion to allow care homes to produce Barcodes for medication. This something that has been discussed at a top level previously and it was agreed that for safety reasons we will not be taking this forward.
The purpose of barcoding medication is to ensure that the correct medication is administered to the correct resident at the correct time. There are a number of clinical checks that ensure when a pharmacy attaches a barcode to an item it is on the correct packet. These checks would not exist for a care home.
This is similar to guidance issued to pharmacy's back in 2002 that they should stop supplying "spare labels" for medication, due to the risk outlined above.
Whilst we are unable to take forward your suggestion, I want to share with you the exciting news that we are working on improvements that will allow you to scan the manufacturers barcodes in instances where you do not have a barcoded dispensing level. Which will allow you to confirm that staff are selecting the correct medication. I look forward to being able to provide more details of this once the enhancement is ready for deployment.
Thank you again for your suggestion.
Kind Regards
The Atlas Product Team