Positive Patient ID systems.

[Jody]

For people using the positive patient identification systems:

 

What special steps are designed into your system/policies that account for removing the admissions band and replacing it with a new one? 

 

Is their any kind of safety check for the correct band going back on the correct patient?

 

Thank you!

[jojo808]

Excluding the "blood bank" ID band, laboratory personnel is not involved with removing or replacing hospital ID bands at our facility. Our nursing staff is responsible to make sure that the correct hospital ID band goes on the correct patient. If you are talking about technology such as iris image mapping, we are not anywhere near there yet! I assume that most admission processes involve verifying verbal information and a photo ID. Hope I'm on the right track.

[Jody]

We are investiagating PPID systems for housewide use with Pharm, Lab and BB. During one of our discussion meeting, the topic of band removal and rebanding came up.

 

Occasionally, bands get too tight or they are in the way. The identification at admission requires photo ids and other checks. My concern is for the other areas of the hospital when verification is less likely to be as effective such as a sedated patient in surgery. In theory, this could ruin the integrity that the PPID system is trying to achieve.

 

The concept of iris scanning is far better that some of the suggestions we formed on the walk to the lab from that meeting.  Humans find the best ways around mechanical fixes.

[AMcCord]

We have no control over the replacement of the admission band but do use a separate blood bank ID band. If we see a repeat customer with new patient ID info for the same visit which doesn't match what was associated with the blood bank bank the previous time/specimen we saw the patient, an investigation is required before we go any further.

[pbaker]

Hospital policy states that blood bank must be contacted ANY time an armband is changed to determine if we have a current specimen.  (We all know that doesn't happen consistently)  If we do, we go to the patient and witness the armband change and document on the current specimen tube.  If they don't contact the blood bank and we find out it is a different armband, we make them redraw the specimen and we start over.