A 2D barcode Electronic Monitoring Dosage System (eMDS) for the prevention of medication administration errors in nursing homes

Abstract

A 2D barcode Electronic Monitoring Dosage System (eMDS) to identify and match residents with respective medicines during administration in nursing homes has been developed. It could be operated via an iPhone which transmits data to server in batch or real time through secured intranet. The system can monitor whether “the right drugs are delivered to the right person at the right time in the right amount.” The eMDS includes a 7-day pre-packed drug tray with 7x4 =28 pockets, a daily-log and an inventory system with three levels of security in the order of administrators, professionals and health workers to provide audit trails, clinical checks and medicine use review. Both the installation cost and consumable cost are low. Furthermore, this medicine management tool can be easily implemented to wider community long-term care facilities with the aim to reduce medicine wastage, prevent unnecessary hospital admissions and save lives.