Speare Memorial Hospital
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Speare Memorial Hospital
(603) 536-1120
 
September 24, 2007
 
SMH Introduces New Bedside Medication Verification System
 
PLYMOUTH, N.H. --- Bar coding technology plays an integral role in our everyday lives from renting a movie or checking out at the grocery store to student/employee identification or card entry into a hotel room. That same technology is now playing a role in healthcare relative to the administration of medication to hospital inpatients.

Speare Memorial Hospital is one of the first hospitals in New Hampshire to roll out its new Bedside Medication Verification (BMV) system. "Bedside Medication Verification consists of scanning medications, scanning a wristband worn by the patient and documenting an electronic medication administration record," explains Kris Hering, nurse director of SMH´s medical/surgical and Intensive Care (ICU) units. "This is a new way for nursing to administer medication in all in-patients units: medical/surgical, ICU and the Birthing Suite." 		Marie Jacobs, RN, demonstrates the use of the bar code scanner to read the wristband worn by patient Carole Shirkey as part of Speare Memorial Hospital’s new Bedside Medication Verification system.
 
Through the use of bar coding technology, the new BMV assures the correct patient receives the correct medication, at the correct dosage and at the correct time. By keying in prescribed medications directly into a patient´s electronic medical record, it establishes a set of checks and balances that helps to ensure patient safety.
 
SMH´s Chief Nursing Officer Beverley Rankin says, "Patient safety is really what the new Bedside Medication Verification system is all about. It is an enhancement to patient care that provides cleaner documentation of prescribed medications and allows for immediate cross-checking of potential drug interactions and patient allergies."
 
Rankin notes that the process of dispensing medication will be slower because of all the required scanning involved. However, the built-in cross referencing system and immediate notification of potential drug interactions or patient allergies makes the delivery of quality patient care a more streamlined, and safer process overall.
 
Speare Memorial Hospital is a 24-hour, acute care, non-profit community hospital and health care provider serving Plymouth and the communities of central New Hampshire for more than a century.
 
Michele Barney Hutchins
Director of Community Relations
Speare Memorial Hospital
(603) 238-6468
mhutchins@spearehospital.com