Hong Kong Hospital Authority to introduce bar coding for drugs

By Teresa Leung, Computerworld Hong Kong | Mar 30, 2009

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The Hospital Authority said Thursday it will introduce bar coding for drugs as it tries to ease public concerns after three recent drug safety incidents over just a month.
 
One of the incidents saw the death of several cancer patients by Rhizopus microsporus tainted Allopurinol - a gout drug - produced by Europharm.
 
According to Hospital Authority chief Shane Solomon, the authority will enhance its pharmaceutical information technology systems by deploying bar coding in a progressive manner. Bar coding, said Solomon, will allow automatic check for what is received against what was ordered, automatic drug track and trace to the point of issue, and the prevention of dispensing expired items.
 
"A drug quality assurance office is to be established to monitor quality and to oversee implementation of the above initiatives," he said. "As the single largest purchaser of drug items in Hong Kong, the HA will actively participate in and contribute to the work of the government's review committee on regulation of pharmaceutical products to safeguard the interests and medication safety of public hospital patients."
 
He added that the authority consider introducing multi-source supply for high volume and high risk drugs to ensure the availability of back up and alternative supply under emergency situation.
 
The authority will also approach manufacturers to introduce microbiology testing as a prerequisite to the procurement for high risk drug items and for the provision of batch release reports on delivery of drug products, said Solomon.
 
"Within HA, sample testing will be enhanced to include a wider range of drugs and microbiology testing based on risk levels," he noted.

The authority will also require suppliers to provide additional standard information for drug delivery documentation to enable more effective physical checking of goods received, the authority said. "In parallel, we will be working with the Department of Health to enhance the access to key additional registration details, including pack sizes to strengthen checking on regulatory compliance," Solomon added.