World Patient Safety Day: Safe Diagnostics in Healthcare

17 September 2024 is World Patient Safety Day under the motto “Safe diagnosis. Correct treatment. Together for diagnostic safety”. The aim of the day of action is to raise society’s awareness of this important topic, while highlighting concrete solutions for greater safety, security and quality in medical care at the same time.

In Germany, the Action Alliance for Patient Safety (APS) has campaigned for the rights and concerns of patients for many years. The Day of Action on 17 September serves both as a platform and as a visible sign of the joint commitment of all those involved in the healthcare system. As a member of the Patient Safety Action Alliance, Mediaform will also provide comprehensive information about its labelling and identification solutions for the healthcare sector.

Safety and security right from the start with patient wristbands

Patient wristbands make an essential contribution to patient safety and security in everyday hospital life. Mediaform’s Armilla Patient Wristbands are characterised by their especially high resistance to scratching, wiping and disinfectants, and are registered as medicinal products. This offers numerous advantages, particularly in terms of safety/security, traceability and quality assurance. The great durability of the printed image ensures a particularly high level of process safety and security when using Armilla patient wristbands in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. For example, this applies to POCT (Point-of-Care Testing) diagnostics and to the documentation of medication administration and other processes in which the patient’s ID is captured using a scanner-supported auto-ID method.

Armilla patient wristbands are also very comfortable to wear, and can be printed quickly and easily from the hospital information system (HIS), using either thermal transfer or thermal direct printing. At the same time, the intelligent combination of a wristband printer and a perfectly-matched patient wristband guarantees the highest quality when printing process-safe/-secure 1-D and 2-D codes.

Barcode- and RFID-controlled medication processes

As well as standardised, end-to-end patient identification, professional medication labelling is also a must in everyday medical practice. For example, the use of RFID patient wristbands and the consistent, unmistakeable labelling of ready-to-use syringes can significantly reduce the risk of medication errors in acute and emergency medicine. Compared to conventional wristbands, RFID wristbands offer additional functionalities in everyday patient care, e.g. to lock patient’s property cabinets.

Medical identity labels: precise identification

For logistical and diagnostic security in hospitals, doctors’ surgeries and laboratories, Mediaform offers a range of highly adhesive medical labels. These labels are specially designed to ensure the secure labelling of laboratory samples. They adhere reliably to various surfaces and remain legible even under demanding conditions. This minimises the risk of mix-ups and significantly increases the speed of diagnostic processes.

Robust labelling of infusion bags and blood bags

Blood bags present a special challenge: Their identification labels must adhere reliably to flexible bags over a lengthy period, while withstanding very demanding storage conditions and low temperatures in a refrigerator or freezer at the same time. In this respect, machine-readable barcodes with tracking components guarantee the unbroken traceability of critical information all along the process chain.

For professional labelling, Mediaform offers a wide range of primary and secondary blood bag identification labels in various formats that adapt perfectly to the bag’s shape without needing any PVC, inspire confidence due to their high adhesive strength and durability, and are nonetheless still easy to stick on. The labels are coated with a migration-proof adhesive, which ensures that no harmful substances migrate through the blood bag or infusion bag. The labels have been certified by the ISEGA (German Industry Studies and Disposal Company GmbH) Testing Institute in accordance with the DIN ISO 3826 standard for “Plastic Bags for Human Blood and Blood Components.” The format of our Infusion Bag Labels is recommended by Dedalus for use with ORBIS Medication.

Reliable Lifetime Support for Auto-ID hardware

Diagnostic processes are only as good as the technology that supports them. That is why Mediaform offers comprehensive Lifetime Support for the Auto-ID hardware used in these processes. Our service ensures that your devices are always ready for operation and function optimally. This not only ensures the continuous efficiency of your diagnostic processes, but also makes a decisive contribution to safety, security and reliability.