Performance research of barcode information management for sterilized surgical instruments

• Main Authors: Chiu Tzu Lin, 林秋子
• Other Authors: H. K. Chang
• Format: Others
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/00752702337343726881

碩士 === 長庚大學 === 資訊管理學研究所 === 97 === Infection control of the operating room is a very important issue for maintaining patient safety. Sterilization assurance and quality of surgical instruments are the key points of the prevention of surgical site infection. Information technology could be used in the high risk environment like operating room to help resolve the problem. Currently, the application of barcode system is the most popular technology for automatic data tracking. The research demonstrated the application of barcode information management system to achieve the safety control of the sterilization of surgical instruments. It improved the quality of care and patient safety by Auto-alerting mechanism. Providing fully sterilized surgical instruments for patients is the basic duty and mission of every operating room personnel. The implementation of Barcode information management system for packages of surgical instruments had positive impact on the effectiveness of management and user satisfaction. From the perspective of system quality, the preparation time and tracking time were significantly shortened. Moreover, the management of tracking was accurate and fast. The decrease of the quantity of expired packages and the rate of expiration improved the inventory management and the circulating rate of the packages. From the perspective of information quality, with the data of the time for searching current location of the packages, checking for packages quantity, and checking for expiration, it effectively shortened the labor time by making the process of instrument packages transparent. For the quality of service, zero-defect of supply, re-processing cost of expired packages, and tracking cost were significantly decreased. The combination of the sterilization indicator tape and barcode label increased the level of recognition and streamlined the process. In addition, the auto checking of expired date secured patient safety. Overall, after implementation of the system, it provided positive effectiveness of quality, time, cost, user satisfaction, and the adverse events of instrument supply.