The case for bar coding: better information, better care--and better business.

Bar coding, pervasive in almost all other industries, has been slow to infiltrate the healthcare setting. for years, disparate systems, a lack of standardization, and an absence of significant market incentives have hindered healthcare providers, IT vendors, and drug manufacturers alike in adopting bar coding technology. But thanks to a proposed FDA rule issued last Spring, bar coding is is edging its way to the top of many IT priority lists. By mid-2004, the final rule should be passed, which will require all drugmakers to bar code prescription drug products at the unit dose level. The bar code will identify the drug, manufacture, strength of the medication, and dosage.