The 'Give And Take' Of Blood Sampling In Scotland's Hospitals

Every day, throughout Scotland’s hospitals and medical centres, phlebotomists and junior doctors are responsible for taking and administering blood and blood products to patients. There are two issues that may be problematic in this process, both potentially occurring at the patient’s bedside. The first is the positive identification of the patient, as there are occasions when a patient’s physical and mental state makes it difficult to ascertain his or her identity. The second concern is that each vial or tube of blood taken must be properly labelled for transport back to the hospital laboratory. As a result, several National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in Scotland prioritized the need for a mobile computing solution to address these concerns.

Sciamed Ltd., based in Scotland, delivered a comprehensive mobile solution with its MEDI-tasc application, Janam XM60 mobile computers and Zebra QL220 Bluetooth label printers. The MEDI-tasc software has built-in capabilities that ensure positive patient identification using the Community Health Index (CHI) unique patient identifier which will interrupt the bloodtaking process unless the match is identical. The Janam XM60s provide advanced barcode scanning, continuous Bluetooth printing and excellent ergonomics.

After two successful pilots with the Janam XM60 devices and fantastic feedback, Richard Forbes of Sciamed highlighted the program’s success: “Phlebotomists and doctors can now go from step one to step fi ve in about 30 seconds, a considerable improvement in productivity from the earlier process.”