Barcode Technology Flaws Put Some Patients at Risk

Nurses forced to use 'workarounds' to ensure medication errors are kept to minimum, study says (HealthDay News) -- Flaws in the design and implementation of barcode systems designed to match hospital patients with the right dose of the right medication can increase the risk of certain medication errors, according to a study that looked at the use of the system in five U.S. hospitals. The study was published in the July/August issue of the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.