Category: Label Printer

Efficient healthcare systems are critical to the provision of excellent patient care, yet too often technical siloes and weaker process links mean they can benefit from a health check. 

From the ambulance to admissions and the ward to the pharmacy – Brother is highlighting seven ways print technology can be used to remedy healthcare processes for the benefit of patients. 

1. Easing pre-admission

Even before patients arrive at hospital, technology can be used to make processes faster and safer. Ambulance staff can, for example, print out patient information en-route using small, lightweight portable printers. Doing so significantly improves readability as hand-written notes from the back of a speeding ambulance may not be legible.

On arrival, print technology saves precious, potentially life-saving time handing over to hospital staff. It also creates a precise record of treatment given, drugs administrated and patient details, which are essential for any emergency.

2. Fast efficient admission

Digital processes can improve organisational wellbeing by enabling overstretched hospital administration staff to simply scan printed patient records onto their database management system. With the touch of a button, they can then match their details to the patients’ data.

Processes can be quickened by creating labels using a dedicated labelling printer which doesn’t require the use of a computer. Individual patient barcodes can be applied to files to mitigate errors while also eradicating the risks of illegible handwriting

3. Clever clinical care

In time critical environments, human errors can occur, but they can be eliminated by introducing simple, effective technology.

Labelling printers can be used to create barcodes for patient wristbands, generating a digital ID linked to a database containing the patient’s records. This ensures correct identification at every step of the patient journey and removes the risk of manual handwriting being mis-read. This all increases patient safety as bands can clearly display vital information such as allergens and details of medication or administrated drugs.

4. Healthy hospital wards

Print security is now more crucial than ever for hospitals due to the introduction of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Any breach of personal data loss can affect both the hospital and the patient.

Using an NFC (near field communication) card or PIN activation ensures documents can be accessed and retrieved only by the individual who initiated the print. This stops sensitive documents being obtained by unauthorised people.

To give administrators full control, staff can be added or removed via a digital profile. This not only enhances security but can also reduce wastage and cost.

5. Safer signage

Technology can benefit asset management as staff can quickly create durable, laminated, self-adhesive identification labels and equipment warning signs. Using labels can not only reduce theft, but also boost safety by providing reminders of dates for equipment checks and highlight warnings.  

Brother laminated P-touch labels are durable and can withstand harsh chemicals, abrasion, extremes of temperature and sunlight making them ideal for the healthcare sector. Readable long-lasting labels that withstand any condition are essential for patient safety.

6. Seamless laboratory management

Putting lab processes under the microscope could help prevent costly or critical mix-ups. Sample identification can be strengthened by scanning patient wristbands as they give the sample, and immediately printing a coded label to be placed straight onto the sample tube.

This process delivers full traceability, creating a digital footprint at every step to ensure patient care and safety is optimised. It also offers improved accuracy over handwritten labels whilst saving time.

7. Positive pharmacy procedures

Hospital pharmacies are busy departments with fast turnaround. Technology can become the heartbeat of the department’s processes, by saving valuable time.

Patient prescriptions can be received electronically from care givers, and dispensed medication labels can be printed and attached to medications with accurate patient details and prescription information.

To prevent critical mix-ups, clear patient identification barcodes on medications can be printed. Printed labels eliminate the risk of misread handwriting and are a safer solution as allergens can be clearly shown using color coding.

Brother’s comprehensive healthcare solutions brochure contains many more insights to help you develop more efficient and secure processes throughout the patients’ journey.

Find out more detail solutions here.

COVID-19 has resulted in huge changes and IT challenges for businesses to navigate. Many organisations have been forced to manage a quick transition to working from home and transform normal office tasks to new virtual processes.

It has allowed time for reflection, and businesses large and small have re-evaluated their digital solutions. Employees, decision makers and IT departments have adapted their mindset, with many working from home missing office-based technology – including access to print – in a way that they wouldn’t have imagined previously. We’ve also helped office spaces use Brother labellers to print highly visible COVID-19 health and safety signs.

In order to support productivity and allow businesses to thrive in a new way of working, we believe there needs to be greater digital collaboration, with IT departments leading the way, speaking to employees and management to understand and implement their digital and remote working needs.

‘Customer’ satisfaction

Staff have increasingly become more like customers of IT departments than colleagues, meaning IT teams must focus on ‘customer satisfaction’. This approach is new territory for some IT departments, and it will require them to adapt their skills and develop a customer service-led approach.

What users want versus what they need requires evaluation to ensure that digital solutions are delivered to achieve the best results and within budget. Consideration needs to be given to both the IT department – as their roles and responsibilities are continually evolving – and the strains on employees as they adapt to a new way of working.

Of course, there are a lot of complexities to consider when developing solutions, such as the increased use of remote working versus the need for on-site printing. In this case, decentralising print to avoid users congregating at one machine in the office, not only supports social distancing, but also increases employee productivity.

IT decision makers will still need to use their expert knowledge to lead a technology roll out, but a collaborative approach using methods such as staff surveys, brainstorming sessions and online courses, could be the most successful way to develop new ways of working and future processes that keep everyone happy and, more importantly, safe.

How in tune are IT departments and employees?

Research¹ conducted pre-COVID revealed that IT decision makers and employees had contrasting viewpoints when it came to digital solutions – an opinion gap that could have shifted during the pandemic.

According to the Quocirca Print 2025 Phase Two Report commissioned by Brother – just 36% of office workers believed that by 2025 print will be very or quite important to their business, compared to 65% of IT decision makers.

It’s an opinion that’s likely to have changed from recent experiences, as staff may not have valued print when it was available at their fingertips. Working without easy access to printing services is likely to have made staff realise its importance in the workplace.  Whether it’s for filing away important documents or using print as an easier way to proofread or printing for a meeting so you have everything to hand, it’s an important tool to have.

The research also revealed that office workers (62%) see far greater importance in collaboration tools such as instant messaging, screen sharing and audio and video conferencing, compared to 45% of IT decision makers.  

With the huge transition to working from home, it’s likely again that IT teams’ opinions on collaboration tools has shifted, given that employees now see so much more value in online tools. As such, the IT department needs to collaborate with decision makers and implement the most successful measures, even trialling different methods to see which is the most successful for the business.

Future printing

It’s expected that the aftermath of the pandemic will mean that life in the office as we previously knew it will change forever and it will be interesting to see how businesses adapt to the ‘new normal’.

There are predictions that there will be a greater shift towards working from home and that virtual meetings and conferences will replace the traditional face-to-face approach in some circumstances. For future printing, businesses could be considering decentralising printers or even introducing business printers at employees’ homes, a solution that Brother has introduced for some large and medium-sized businesses.

Hyper-distributed printing provides employees with the same benefits and printing functionalities at home as in the office, whilst maintaining the control and management protocols established by the company.

With approaches to work ever changing, the outlook for the office of the future is uncertain.  However, it’s imperative for IT departments to continually engage with their employees and work in digital collaboration to develop solutions that are the most cost-effective and efficient for businesses and best suited to the future needs and security of teams.

Email us today at bicgulfsolution@brother.ae for more detail solutions that can help your businesses.

¹ Quocirca Print 2025 Phase Two Report commissioned by Brother