Japan Association for Medical Informatics

[3-C-2] Effective Measures for Introducing Standard Barcodes and RFIDs in Medical Institutions: How to consider where to start and what are the goals?

*Kengo Miyo1, Koichi Uemura2, Aki Inaba2, Chikayuki Ochiai3, Hiroo Shiraishi 4, Masaki Takashina 5, Toshihiro Takeda 5, Hideyuki Miyachi6, Masaru Watanabe7 (1. Center for Medical informatics Intelligence, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, 2. GS1 Japan, 3. Tokyo Healthcare University, 4. Japan Automatic Identification Systems Association , 5. Osaka University Hospital, 6. Konishi Medical Instruments Co.,Ltd, 7. Miyagi Children’s Hospital)

Hospital Management, Hospital Information System, Traceability, GS1 barcode, RFID

In December 2019, Act on Securing Quality, Efficacy and Safety of Products Including Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices was partially amended. As a result, "barcode labeling to improve traceability" will be mandatory for ethical drugs, medical devices and materials from December 2022. GS1 barcodes are already printed on many products and also started to access electronic attachments in August 2021. In addition to this, it is also expected to be deployed in the future for use in ensuring traceability. Since FY2020, we have been conducting research on the introduction and utilization of standard barcodes and RFID in medical institutions as part of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's Research Project. In this study, we have investigated and researched measures for utilizing GS1 barcodes in medical institutions from various angles. This paper describes international trends in the use of GS1 barcodes, best practices at medical institutions, and issues and solutions that have emerged, mainly targeting medical institutions and system vendors that are considering the use of GS1 barcodes and RFID in the future.