Four key purchasing groups representing more than 4,500 hospitals have aligned with the TerraPharma Project LLC, San Diego, an educational advocacy organization promoting patient safety improvements—to help members address common medical errors.
The group is promoting the [removed]unSummit Conference for Bedside Barcoding [/removed]planned for April 30 to May 2, 2008 in Austin, Tex.
The event will facilitate peer-to-peer exchanges and allow hospitals to evaluate BPOC systems and associated technologies. Since its initiation in 2005 when estimated adoption rates lagged at less than 10%, BPOC adoption rates have grown to more than 20%, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
“The high-profile medication errors at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Methodist Health System in Indianapolis, St Mary’s Medical Center in Madison, Wis, and untold numbers of other hospitals demonstrate that no one is immune from systemic error,” said unSummit co-creator, Mark Neuenschwander. “Bar coding offers an important tool to safeguard patients.”
Members of Premier Inc, Novation, MedAssets Supply Chain Systems, and Amerinet will receive a registration discount to attend the conference, which will provide information on the latest bar code-enabled point-of-care technology (BPOC) designed to reduce medical errors and enhance patient safety.
Attendees may earn up to 17 nursing and pharmacy continuing education hours, and can participate in one of two post-conference workshops exploring the value of smart infusion pumps and the role of radio-frequency identification technology in medication safety.
Registration can be completed online. For more information, visit the event’s Web site.
