Wristbands that can save patients' lives

MUMBAI, INDIA: More than 100,000 Americans die annually in U.S. hospitals because of avoidable medical errors, according to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), which also reports that medical errors rank as America’s eighth leading cause of death — higher than auto accidents or breast cancer. 

Zebra Technologies Corporation , player in specialty printing and automatic identification solutions, announced today that it has sold more than 125 million of its patient Z-band wristbands worldwide which will help prevent the number of  deaths that are caused by medical errors.  

Addressing the need to regulate the healthcare sector in India, the health ministry has proposed a clinical establishment bill to ensure safer health practices and a regulatory framework for all healthcare organizations, clinics and nursing homes. This bill will be focused on patient safety and would stress on the need for getting accurate and comprehensive data on causes of medical errors across the country.

“Since 1995, Zebra has been committed to the patients and healthcare facilities of the world by developing industry-leading thermal transfer technology that helps track patient and medication information, thereby reducing errors,” said Anders Gustafsson, chief executive officer,  Zebra Technologies. “Of the 125 million wristbands Zebra has sold, more than 50 percent were in the last 18 months. This increase can be directly tied to the dramatic rise in the adoption rate of bedside bar code medication administration, which requires scanning a patient’s wristband and then scanning the medication before administering it to the patient.”

Patient safety begins at the wrist with bar coded wristbands that enable healthcare practitioners to verify a correct match between the patient and medical treatment provided. Zebra’s Z-Band wristbands and direct thermal transfer printers continue to evolve in order to meet new demands of the healthcare industry and to ensure the Five Patient Rights (right patient, right medication, right dose, right time, and right method). Unlike dot matrix and laser printers, Zebra thermal printers produce crisp, clear print quality on all wristband and label sizes. This guarantees that the barcodes, which store patient health information such as name, blood type, allergies, primary physician and more, scan quickly and reliably for positive patient identification at the point of care.

In India, Zebra Z-Band wristbands are used in four hospitals, facilitating the medical care. With the help of Zebra’s bar coded wristbands, doctors and nurses can focus on patients, improving the diagnosis and treatment accuracy, says a company press release.

“Patient safety is a global problem which affects all regions alike, including Asia Pacific. Lapses in patient safety are remarkably common and have been exacting an enormous human and financial toll,” said Andrew Tay, president of Zebra Technologies, Asia Pacific. “We hope that with the success of Zebra’s Z-Band direct thermal wristbands, nurses, doctors, and other medical personnel in Asia can be sure that the patient will be identified correctly and the right information will be presented every time the wristband is scanned”.

Many wristbands in use at hospitals today are made of materials that are easily degraded from smudging, liquids or hand sanitizer. Zebra’s unique Z-Band wristbands resist alcohol, water, foams, soaps and blood, and are also MRI certified meaning they pose no adverse reaction risk during MRIs.