Sato welcomes new ISB Standard for Patient Identification

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Sato welcomes new ISB Standard for Patient Identification.

GS1 Solutions Partner, Sato UK, a subsidiary of the barcode and RFID technology company, Sato Holdings Corporation, has welcomed the recent publication of the Information Standards Board (ISB) for Health and Social Care Standard 1077, which will see every patient in England given a wristband with a barcode to ensure enhanced patient management.

The new standard defines how to encode the NHS approved patient identifiers for identity bands and bracelets into a 2D GS1 DataMatrix barcode, and from April 2012, all National Health Trusts must have plans to ensure that their systems are in line with the new guidelines which take effect on 1st October 2013.

Having recently received certification for its newly developed patient wristband identification system from GS1, the global organisation responsible for developing and administering barcode identification standards worldwide, Sato's European Managing Director, Brian Lang commented on the new ISB Standard: "As a company that is involved in providing identification solutions to the healthcare industry in the UK, we obviously welcome the introduction of the ISB standard 1077 as it presents the opportunity to improve patient care through the use of advanced technology, making healthcare facilities as safe and error-free as possible. 

"Sato has been involved in the development of straightforward, yet fail-safe systems of positive patient identification for many years, working with individual hospitals to produce solutions which suit their specific requirements. Electronic bar code technology provides a greater volume of key data at the bedside, and this new standard will ensure the right care is given to the right patient, at the right time".

Sato has developed a system for patient identification wristbands that incorporates Sato's compact and versatile CG2 barcode printer, Sato LabelGallery software and the company's existing range of patient identification wristbands. The complete system has been approved as suitable for use in UK hospitals and patient healthcare facilities by GS1.

Sato's new patient wristband identification system, which meets the required standard for 2D barcode print quality, was approved by GS1 following stringent tests to determine its conformance to the specific patient information structure required for patient identification wristbands.