Patient identification

Patients’ wristbands for more safety

More than 19 million treatments are carried out in German hospitals every year. This makes it all the more important for every patient to be uniquely identifiable at all times. Armilla® patient wristbands guarantee quick, effective patient identity checks – during the entire stay in hospital and with high wearing comfort. These personalised, mechanically printed patient wristbands can be printed quite easily, directly from the Hospital Information System (HIS) – optionally by thermal transfer, thermal direct or laser printing. 

The coordinated combination of a wristband printer and a patient wristband guarantees the highest quality combined with durable printing, even when  using disinfectants, soap and water. Mediaform's wristband printers fulfil all the conditions for use in a medical environment.

More safety for patients and employees

Mediaform is the market leader in the area of patients’ wristbands. More than 400 hospitals in the D-A-CH-R region (Germany-Austria-Switzerland) have decided to adopt an additional safety standard, and have successfully introduced Armilla patients’ wristbands into their organisations – which include both university clinics and clinic groups operating throughout the Federal Republic of Germany.

As the only manufacturer up to now, Mediaform offers an ideally coordinated system solution to print and create patients’ safety/security wristbands for adults, children and new-borns – also with an integrated RFID chip. These personalised, machine-printed patients’ wristbands can be printed quite simply from the Hospital Information System (HIS) – either by thermal transfer, direct thermal or laser printing.

Mediaform offers you everything from a single supplier – from appropriate patient wristbands (with or without an RFID chip) and wristband printers to barcode scanners. A precondition for this is patient identification and a comparison of the core data set – optionally by barcode scanner or NFC (Near-Field Communication; wi-fi) via the patient's identification wristband. For clinics, the patient is not only the reason for every action, but also the basis for all medical processes. However, the circuit cannot be closed if only individual sub-processes are digitised, while the patient with all their associated data such as blood samples or X-rays is forgotten.

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Stephanie Kleist
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+49 40 727360 69

Stephanie.Kleist(at)mediaform.de

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Possible applications for patient wristbands

Identity checking by using patient wristbands is sensible and minimises unwanted incidents, not only before surgical operations, but also for the administration of medicine, diagnostics or therapeutic treatments.  

The wristbands meet the basic safety and performance requirements in accordance with Annex I of the Medical Devices Regulation (EU) 2017/745 of the European Parliament and Council of April 05, 2017. In addition, all products have been tested by the independent Hohenstein testing institute for their harmlessness with regard to allergenic substances .

Anwendungsmöglichkeiten von Patientenarmbändern

Bedside Scanning

In addition, to guarantee that the prescribed dose of the right medicines is given to the correct patient at the stated time, the medication can quite easily be compared with the data on the patient's wristband before administration.

POCT Applications

Point of Care Testing (POCT) is decentralised, close-to-patient laboratory diagnostics directly at the hospital bedside, in the operating theatre or even in GP's surgeries and pharmacies - including blood sugar monitoring, among other things. Allocation of the measured data to the specific patient takes place through an unambiguous patient identification number that can scanned via a barcode on patients' wristbands. This makes the incorrect assignment of data to patients almost impossible.

Administration of medicines

The unit dose method is a concept for the administration of medicines in hospitals. It involves the clinic's pharmacy assembling medicines for each patient individually, packing and labelling them, and subsequently delivering them directly to the wards. To safeguard the administration of the medicine, it can then be compared with the patient's data on their wristband. 

Electronic access control and restriction

Patient wristbands with an RFID chip can also be used for access control – especially in high-risk areas such as transfusion or intensive medical care. The use of Armilla patient wristbands combined with an RFID transponder securely protects these areas against unauthorised access/entry, misuse or third-party interference.

Secure custody of patient's property

According to German legislation, clinics are not responsible for patients' property during an in-patient stay. Nonetheless, there remains the logistic expense involved in clearing up cases of damage, and a possible loss of image. Patient wristbands with an integrated (passive) RFID chip enable patients to store their valuables in roll-front containers with an electronic locking mechanism directly at the patient's bed. These can easily be opened and closed simply by holding the wristband in front of them. The fact that each chip is unique guarantees that no other patient's wristband has access.

Wandering protection for dementia patients

Armilla patient wristbands are a suitable way to offer dementia patients a high level of freedom of movement and quality of life during a stay in medical establishments. These chips are equipped with their own energy source, and can transmit data over longer distances. If a dementia patient leaves his or her establishment, an alarm can be triggered and the patient located, stopped or brought back. 

Further application possibilities

  • Functional diagnostics, e.g. for patient data acquisition during X-rays, CT or MRI
  • Activity recording, e.g. documenting the administration of medicines
  • Operating theatre time recording
  • Process optimisation, e.g. serving meals
  • Cost accounting, e.g. patients' library, cafeteria

Automatic patient identification during within-clinic transport movements

An RFID patient wristband with a passive transponder enables unambiguous patient identification with simultaneous storage of the relevant treatment data. This additional data storage can be crucially important in locations without IT access, e.g. in emergency situations. Data acquisition through clothing or bedcoverings is possible if a patient is asleep, clothed and/or unresponsive. The patient's private sphere and security/safety are guaranteed at all times.

What information does a patient’s wristband contain?

All Armilla patients’ wristbands fulfil the requirements for printing from a Hospital Information System (HIS), and contain the core data sets of the German Coalition for Patient Safety e.V. (APS).  

These include:

  • Name
  • First name
  • Date of birth
  • Sex
  • Case number in plaintext and as a 2-D barcode
  • In addition, photos or logos can be transferred to patients’ wristbands directly from the HIS.

What are the characteristic features of patients’ wristbands?

Our patients’ wristbands for adults, children or new-borns have the following characteristic features:

  • Skin-friendly
  • Anti-allergic
  • Soft
  • Free from plasticisers (phthalates)
  • Recognised as a Class I medicinal product (by the State Authority for Health and Social Affairs in Schleswig-Holstein)
  • Water- and disinfectant-resistant
  • Individual size adjustment by special closure systems

They also satisfy the biocompatibility examination in compliance with DIN EN ISO 10993-5: 2009-10. All Armilla patients’ wristbands are tested for “biological safety”. Our Armilla thermal wristbands are free from bisphenol A (BPA).