The Wall Street Journal reports that Pfizer Inc. will begin putting bar codes on individually packaged pills used in hospitals. The goal, according to the company, is to prevent or reduce errors in administering medication.
According to the WSJ, medication errors account for more than 7,000 deaths each year, and this move by Pfizer is the “most comprehensive by a major pharmaceutical company to make medicines used in hospitals compatible with computerized systems.” The company said that it is using existing technology to make the move, and at “little additional cost.”
According to the WSJ, medication errors account for more than 7,000 deaths each year, and this move by Pfizer is the “most comprehensive by a major pharmaceutical company to make medicines used in hospitals compatible with computerized systems.” The company said that it is using existing technology to make the move, and at “little additional cost.”
- KC's View:
- Assuming all the technologies are made compatible, it seems to us that this is just a harbinger of things to come.
