DAYTON, Ohio (June 17, 2004)--Standard Register, a leading provider of document management and process improvement solutions, has expanded its Positive Patient Identification System to include Picture Capture. This browser-based enterprise solution places patient pictures, color or black and white, along with related data and bar codes on wristbands and healthcare documents as a means of improving patient identification, which helps healthcare facilities enhance patient care, address regulatory requirements and reduce patient fraud. “Our Picture Capture solution, adds patient photographs to wristbands, consent forms and chart face sheets, providing a way for hospitals to reduce medical errors by helping ensure the right patient gets the right medications, tests and treatments,” said Peter Dorsman, Standard Register executive vice president and chief operating officer. “It is a valuable addition to our Positive Patient Identification offerings.” While medical personnel strive to provide the best patient care, inefficient identification and information processes can work against them. According to the Institute of Medicine, medical errors are the eighth leading cause of death for Americans, more than motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer or AIDS. Additionally, the FDA estimates that 1.25 million adverse drug events per year occur in hospitals, of which about 30 percent are preventable. Unless positive identification is established at the point of admission and facilitated throughout the patient’s stay, the opportunity for error is ever present. To highlight this need, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) introduced its 2003 National Patient Safety Standards requiring hospitals to improve patient identification whenever taking specimens, administering transfusions or dispensing medications. Picture Capture addresses the “pains” articulated by hospitals as they strive to meet regulatory requirements and provide superior patient care. Used with Standard Register’s Patient LinkUp Enterprise system that generates bar-coded wristbands, labels and related documents, Picture Capture provides a patient identification solution that adds minimal time to the admitting process, places a picture on all designated documents, and enables healthcare providers to quickly identify a patient on the floor or upon a return visit. Additionally, photographs can be stored in a digital repository for easy access in admissions, at the nurses station or from anywhere in the delivery network. In addition to improving patient safety, Picture Capture aids in preventing fraud. Healthcare providers indicate that with proposed cutbacks in Medicare reimbursements and tightening budgets, patient fraud is a growing concern. In some cases, patients are using someone else’s identification in order to receive treatment. As a result, insurance companies are monitoring patient claims, which is holding up or stopping reimbursement to healthcare facilities. Picture Capture provides hospitals with a means to easily identify patients and reduce the number of fraud occurrences. This helps hospitals reduce operating costs and corporate risk and liability, while gaining efficiency in daily operations and regulatory compliance. “We know that hospitals must deliver the best patient care possible while lowering expenses in a challenging financial and regulatory environment where every moment matters,” said Dorsman. “Our Picture Capture offering is another way Standard Register shows its commitment to providing healthcare organizations with the support and expertise they need to provide high-quality patient care.”