LABELLING IN HEALTHCARE
Always read the label Labelling plays a crucial role in the healthcare sector, and badly printed labels can cause major problems. But printer label manufacturers have reacted and are providing a range of solutions to ensure labels are consistent and readable throughout their life.
Labels are an integral part of the healthcare sector, and crucial to ensure that medications are distributed and taken correctly. As Richard Barfield, EMEA Core Portfolio Marketing for Printers, Printing Supplies, and Environmental Sensors – ATS Division, Zebra Technologies Europe, notes, globally each year, 134 million adverse events occur in hospitals in low- and middle-income countries, due to medication errors that resulted in 2.6 million deaths, according to Science Direct. “Labelling and packaging play a crucial role in ensuring the authenticity, integrity and safety of pharmaceutical products,” he says. “The primary function of a label is to provide clear instructions and facilitate easy identification of the drug by healthcare professionals and consumers. Effective labelling promotes the safe use of medication by including essential information such as the drug's identification, strength, size, colour and batch details. Additionally, it should communicate important details about the drug’s indications, contraindications and potential side effects. “From a healthcare perspective, barcode and labelling is used in a broad spectrum of applications, from patient identification with wristbands, bedside labelling of specimens, slide labelling in the pharmacy, to asset labelling of high value or critical equipment, often incorporating Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags as part of a wider location solution. “It has been estimated that more than 160,000 adverse patient events occur each year in the U.S. because of patient or specimen identification errors involving the laboratory.” Poor design and inconsistency Deyon Antoine, product marketing manager, Toshiba Tec adds that poor label design, such as look-alike labels, pose a risk for confusion, wrong administration and harm. “Also, physical labels due to their nature are inflexible with limited space, information
is crammed on the label by using small fonts, which impairs readability,” he adds. “Content inconsistencies due to region-specific regulations can also cause problems.” But there are ways to combat this, such as through compliance i.e. label design, design approval. “Also, ensuring clear, accurate, standardised labelling practices is essential to enhance patient safety and prevent errors. standardisation of label quality/integrity including label size, font type, font size, information positioning, 1D and 2D codes,” Deyon says. “Electronic label (eLabel) in addition to or as a replacement of the paper label. eLabels are an electronic version of the package insert and patient information leaflet, distributed via electronic means such as a machine-readable QR code, barcode or URL on the product carton.”
Richard Barfield EMEA Core Portfolio Marketing for Printers, Printing Supplies, and Environmental Sensors – ATS Division
zebra.com
Age concern Bob Tilling, VP global sales at Kallik,
adds that the chance of labels becoming unreadable increases with the patients’ age. “Label designers and label printers are usually of working age, making them much younger than the main users of the NHS and medicines – the elderly,” he says. “Challenges reading the small print or other important information on the label, packaging or ‘information for use’ leaflet mean that the elderly need clearer labelling than their younger counterparts. “Labels need to be printed by thermal transfer for longevity and clarity, as direct thermal labels fade over time. Inkjet printed labels are generally less clear, but we are seeing improvements with inkjet technology, so that may change. “However, a printer is only as good as the print ribbon or ink selected, so what goes into the printer needs to have been durability tested. Finally, the speed and temperature settings of a thermal transfer printer are critical to the quality and resilience of the label produced.”
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It has been estimated that more than 160,000 adverse patient events occur each year in the U.S. because of patient
or specimen identification errors involving the laboratory.
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CONTINUED
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