This is a story, courtesy of E-Health Insider about members of Britain’s parliament being frustrated by their uncertainty over whether or not ten years worth of efforts to improve patient safety have made a difference in the UK. A House of Commons Health Committee inquiry into patient safety is referenced often in support of those who feel patient safety has a ways to go.
What’s the number one problem according to the House of Commons inquiry? A failure of the Department of Health (DH) to collect adequate data. And what’s the cure? The story talks about problems of under reporting, of the need for more and better technology solutions and decision support systems, etc. But it also says this:
…it argues that “properly used, technology can greatly improve patient safety”. The report describes in some depth visits that committee members made to see automated decision support and AIDC systems in action, and presses the DH to make further progress with getting GS1 standards adopted for AIDC technology in England.
This is important because it is a further sign of sovereign governments applying pressure for the adoption of an otherwise voluntary standard. It’s one thing if a private sector company decides to accept or decline an optional industry standard in its bid to outdistance its rivals. It is an entirely different matter when a standard is required to even enter a foreign market. The UK is nearing a time when the identification and labeling of all healthcare products will have to comply with a government mandated standard and, increasingly, it looks like that standard will be GS1.
Filed under: C-Level Issues, GS1, Patient safety
[...] The report describes in some depth visits that committee members made to see automated decision support and AIDC systems in action, and presses the DH to make further progress with getting GS1 standards adopted for AIDC technology in …Read More [...]