LabNotes - Volume 16, No.1, 2006

Accuracy from bedside to lab…while medication errors and surgical mistakes often grab the headlines, there is another cause for serious concern in the care and treatment of hospitalized patients — specimen-related errors. These errors can adversely affect patient outcomes, and they can have a significant financial impact on hospitals. In the late 1990s, national study results showed that specimen-related errors could cost $200 million to $400 million per year.¹

The BD.id™ Patient Identification System platform enables hospitals to positively impact their bottom line through operating efficiencies in the laboratory, as well as improving patient outcomes. Right at the patient’s bedside, the wireless, simple-to-use BD.id™ Patient Identification System for Specimen Management identifies:

→ the healthcare provider → the patient → the specimen container → the order of draw

The system then prints instrument-readable labels only for specimens actually collected, with both the actual time of collection and the collector’s ID printed on the label.

The BD.id™ System, when used in conjunction with BD Vacutainer® Plus Plastic tubes incorporating BD’s patented V-notch alignment technology, reduces misalignment errors, creating instrument-readable labels the first time, minimizing your need to relabel.

For more information about the BD.id™ Patient Identification System for Specimen Management, or for copies of the article, "Technology to Reduce Specimen Collection Errors," (excerpted from Laboratory Medicine, August 2004), please contact us.

1. Bologna L, Hardy G, Mutter M. Reducing specimen and medication error with handheld technology. Presented at: 2001 Annual Conference and Exhibition of Healthcare Information and Management Society; February 4-8, 2001; Chicago, IL.

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