Patient Photos Help Reduce Hospital's Medication Errors

Along with the picture, the patient's name, date of birth, and medical record number—unique to each patient—are all included on the card.

"Each patient card is handed down, shift to shift, by nurses and is used for identification during medication administration," says Mason.

In addition, patients wear an identification bracelet, which has a bar code that matches the one on the index card and is unique to each patient, says Mason.

Easy implementation
JPS purchased a digital camera so nurses could print patient pictures immediately.

"We wanted to make the process as easy as possible because we did not want to slow down the admission process or make it a burden," says Mason. "[Our] information technology [department] installed the camera program on one of the computers in the nurses' station, and now, taking a patient's picture during admission has just become part of the process."

The key to the process is to have a camera on each unit so all nurses have access to one, she says.

Another important factor in the success of this process was the support provided by upper management, says Mason.

"Everyone here is always ready to do something that will improve patient safety and quality of care," says Mason.

To read more about this program, please see the January 2010 issue of Briefings on Patient Safety, a product of Patient Safety Monitor.