News | July 16, 2008

NHS Selects LaserBand To Improve Patient Safety

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Yesterday, the National Health Service (NHS) awarded a multi-year contract to LaserBand, LLC, to provide a broad range of patient wristband products for immediate use in all hospitals of the NHS in England and Wales. Under the new NHS contract, LaserBand is the only approved provider of laser-printed wristbands, which enable clear printing of patient information as well as barcodes and even patient photos to ensure proper patient identification and significantly reduce medical errors. LaserBand also offers an NHS-approved thermal printed wristband options which uses the same format as the laser-printed option, enabling a more efficient, dual printing environment.

LaserBand's NHS award comes in response to a study published by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) in May 2007, which revealed that 72% of more than 24,000 annual errors studied in the U.K. resulted from instances where patients did not wear wristbands. Moving quickly, on 3 July 2007, the NPSA issued new advice to all NHS organisations on standardising patient wristbands for hospitalised patients, defined a set of stringent wristband requirements, and required that by 18 July 2009, all NHS hospitals should implement a patient identification system to generate and print all patient wristbands from the hospital demographic system. LaserBand's products are the only patient identification wristbands in the global market that fulfill all wristband requirements established by the NPSA.

"A simple patient identification wristband can be the difference between the wrong treatment being administered and the right one," stated Tony Rich, Head of Information Management and Technology for the Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust, which tested the LaserBand wristbands against competing products. "We believe that LaserBand wristbands provide the Trust with a safe, high-quality, easy-to-implement solution for identifying patients properly, which will reduce the potential number of medical errors made in our hospitals." Last year as part of the Trust's recognising excellence awards this initiative won and was commended as one of the Trust's best service developments. Today, the Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust uses LaserBand wristbands for their patients.

"LaserBand applauds the NHS for setting this world-class standard of care in the United Kingdom," said Sanjay K. Jain, Chief Executive Officer of LaserBand. "With the selection process complete, rapid implementation is now the key to successfully improving patient safety in the UK."

LaserBand's unique products record patient data in handwritten, embossed/imprinted, laser printed or direct thermal printed form. Therefore, hospitals can start using LaserBand products immediately at their current technology level and use the same wristband as their technology infrastructure advances. For example, a hospital can handwrite patient data today on the same wristbands they will laser print in the future.

More importantly, as the inventor of the self-laminating patient wristband, LaserBand offers products that physically protect patient data and barcode information from washing and from liquids commonly found in a hospital, such as rubbing alcohol, saline or IV fluids.

"LaserBand's self-laminating technology reduces the need to re-band a patient, thus increasing patient safety by removing opportunities to make an error," said Jorik Ittmann, Vice President of Business Development Worldwide for LaserBand. "LaserBand is focused on making healthcare safer for patients around the world and we're excited to bring this standard of care to the UK."

Effective immediately, the NHS will begin supplying its hospitals with the following LaserBand products:

  • The LaserBand OmniBand Clear Adult laminate wristbands (for use with separate laser or thermal printed labels)
  • The LaserBand laser printable wristband with integrated information card (LB2-ADULT-SC)
  • The LaserBand FusionBand wristband for direct thermal printers (FID)
  • The LaserBand wristband with extra-wide image area for laser printing or embossing/imprinting (LB2-ADULT-WX)
  • The LaserBand laser printable wristband with separate zoned print areas (LB2-ADULT-Z)
  • The LaserBand laser printable wristband, enhanced closure (LB2-ADULT-L3S)
  • The LaserBand laser printable wristband with enhanced closure and labels (LB2-ADULT-L3E)
  • The LaserBand laser printable wristbands and labels for newborns (LB2-PED-BABY-LE)
  • The LaserBand baby/child wristbands sheetlet with tags (LB2-BABY-S)
  • LaserBand label sheet with 30 labels (PLS-103E)
  • The LaserBand Comfy Cuff, adult sized (LB2-ADULT-P)

Wristbands may be procured through normal NHS Supply Chain ordering procedures. More information about LaserBand products is available at the company's Web site (www.laserband.co.uk), via e-mail at info@laserband.co.uk or by phone at (020) 3002 0305.

About LaserBand:
LaserBand LLC is the leading global provider of patient identification wristbands and wristband technology that healthcare organizations use to improve patient safety. LaserBand offers the only cross-platform product line that works with hospitals' existing patient ID technology at any level--from handwriting or embossing to bar-coding, thermal imaging and laser printing. LaserBand is also the inventor of the self-laminating patient wristband and holds patents on this and several other patient identification technologies. For more information, please visit the Company's Web site at www.laserband.co.uk.

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