USING BAR-CODE TECHNOLOGY TO CAPTURE CLINICAL INTERVENTION DATA IN A HOSPITAL WITH A STAND-ALONE PHARMACY COMPUTER-SYSTEM

The use of barcode technology to capture data on pharmacists' clinical interventions is described. At a hospital in Northern Ireland, patien t-specific information could not be accessed through the pharmacy comp uter system. A system comprising six hand-held barcode readers and sof tware for downloading data was purchased. The pharmacy staff selected a range of fields for recording a wide array of data on clinical inter ventions, including the outcomes. Patient details that could not easil y be bar-coded had to be recorded manually. The process was evaluated over three four-week cycles, with the data fields being revised after each cycle and the interventions being judged for their clinical appro priateness and their conformance to inhouse standards. After the third cycle, the need for manual recording of information was eliminated. A total of 857 interventions were made during the three cycles. Perform ance met or exceeded the standard for 7 (50%) of 14 indicators for the first cycle, 8 (53%) of 15 for the second cycle, and 13 (81%) of 16 f or the final cycle. For all three cycles, the majority of the interven tions were important and resulted in an improvement in the standard of care. A bar-code-driven data collection system successfully replaced a manual system for documenting pharmacists' clinical interventions.