Zebra technologies announced that it will launch new patient ID printing solutions to enhance patient care and safety, and help the regions hospitals meet international standards, at Arab Health 2014. Zebra Technologies will launch its LaserBand wristband technology combined with a preview of a new range of mobile printers for the Middle East healthcare sector at Arab Health 2014 to help hospitals deliver accurate patient ID and labelling at the patient's bedside. In 2004/5 alone, the UK's NHS (National Health Service) faced over £400 million worth of clinical negligence claims - one of the key causes being patient misidentification.

The National Patient Safety Agency states that this causes 19% of all hospital errors. Patient wristbands can help identify patients but many studies have shown that between 2% and 6% of patients aren't properly identified by their wristbands. The biggest advantage barcode wristbands provide in healthcare settings is how they enable information to be presented and recorded.

Barcode scanning is extremely accurate-much more accurate than any manual means of information recording a barcode is simply an alternative to text for expressing information. Anything that can normally be printed on a wristband can be encoded in a barcode and it frequently serves as a key to a database. When the barcode is read, the scanner decodes the symbol and instructs a computer to look up or update the specific record that corresponds to that patient.

With barcoded wristbands, nurses, doctors, medical assistants, lab technicians, and other personnel can be sure that the patient will be identified correctly and the right information will be presented every time the wristband is scanned. At Arab Health 2014, Zebra will present the latest patient ID integrated printing solutions for the region's healthcare sector, including a new range of mobile printers for the healthcare sector and Laserband barcoded wristband technology.