Barcodes on medical records, supplies, and documents can be a great way to keep track of patients and inventory. Now that hospital wristbands like the Laserband® allow hospital employees to print unique barcodes on them, they make it easy to tie a patient's medical records to their medication and other attributes of their stay in the hospital.

Each time a patient is undergoes a procedure or is checked-up on, a nurse or doctor can scan the barcode on the medical wristbands. This creates an instant online record that other hospital employees can access, which will tell them when the patient was last visited or when their last procedure was. This eliminates the time spent on unnecessary repeat visits by several staff members while also cutting down on miscommunications, because everything is recorded electronically.

Another benefit of barcodes in hospitals is the ability to track medication and medical supplies. Whenever a patient is administered a prescribed medicine, the nurse can scan both the medicine's barcode and the patient's barcode, thus creating a dosing record that will record the amount of medicine, the time it was taken, and the price amount that needs to be charged to the patient.

Besides keeping track of when medicine is administered to the patient, barcodes can also help track inventory. If all medical supplies, such as syringes, hospital beds, and linens, all have a barcode attached to them, then a digital record can be created that will let hospital staff know how much of each product or supply is left in stock. This makes it easy to re-order supplies. Re-ordering supplies can also be kept track of, which will over time create a history of how long it takes certain products to be used. This will eliminate over-ordering or under-ordering of certain products and supplies. Additionally, supplies can also be scanned whenever a patient uses them. This can also bill the patient if it is something that is disposable and will not be used again.

From keeping track of patients and their records to medications and medical supplies, barcodes are an easy and simple tracking system. They are relatively anonymous and make it easy to track data without writing down dates, names, and times. The barcode technology has been around for a long time because it has proven itself to be a reliable way to make sure things are being tracked and paid for efficiently and easily.

LASERBAND® is a federally registered trademark of LaserBand, LLC. Sales limited to the US only.