The goal of this study was to evaluate and improve the ordering, administration, documentation, and monitoring of enteral nutrition within an adult inpatient setting.  The authors noted that documentation improved significantly with the implementation of bar code scanning for enteral feedings within their organization.  They noted that use of scanning could prevent formula misadministration and ensure optimal delivery as a strategy to prevent malnutrition.

This systematic review article evaluates current literature and provides recommendations on best practices for feeding safety in the neonatal intensive care unit.  Recommendations include use of a centralized preparation area with dedicated technicians for handling human milk and formula, bar code scanning technology, and support from a registered dietitian.  

These 2023 standards published by the American Academy of Pediatrics outline best practices within the various levels of neonatal care.  Among the many recommendations, nutrition and lactation support are promoted including the recommendation that the facility will utilize a dedicated space away from the bedside for feeding preparation, develop standardized feeding protocols, and have procedures in place for accurate verification of human milk AND formula to avoid misappropriation.

In this study, the authors review the former process of  handling and administering human milk within their hospital followed by the steps taken to implement bar code scanning of human milk at their institution.  

“Barcoding technology has the ability to accurately verify patient identity and prescription accuracy before milk administration.”

Human milk in the health care setting, particularly the neonatal intensive care unit, is often viewed as “medicine” or an adjunct therapy. Some of the most fragile patients are those premature or critically ill infants receiving human milk feedings. Therefore, every precaution must be taken with human milk handling to ensure safety. Aseptic technique with proper sanitation and holding times/temperatures to limit microbial growth; use of technology to prevent misadministration of human milk and fortification errors as well as for tracking of expiration dates/times and lot numbers; and workflow strategies to promote safety while improving efficiencies are worthy endeavors of all facilities.

Increasing concern regarding potential pathogens in infant formulas led to this evaluation of the influence of procedural and environmental factors on infant formula contamination. In two phases of study, a total of 526 formula samples were analyzed for contamination.

This study examined critical steps taken for patient safety throughout the feeding process with emphasis on three primary areas: avoiding microbial contamination, preventing misadministration (wrong HM administered), and ensuring preparation accuracy.

“Research has shown that scanning systems (depending on specific product features) may reduce other errors and improve efficiencies by preventing fortifier/additive misadministration, monitoring expiration dates/times of prepared feedings as well as stored HM and fortifiers/additives, tracking lot numbers of DHM and fortifiers, automatically calculating fortified feeding recipes, reducing staff time needed for two-person verification, lot tracking, and recipe calculation.”

The Timeless Medical Nutrition Platform™  is the most comprehensive feeding solution on the market. With seamless electronic health record integration, the program tracks and traces expressed breastmik, human donor milk and formula throughout the entire feed process.  

The following study was conducted independently at a facility utilizing the Timeless Medical Nutrition Platform™ with no financial incentive provided by Timeless Medical Systems

This retrospective study examined the incidence of milk curd obstruction in thawed fortified Human Milk. At the time of feeding, the nurse scanned the patient armband and the bar code label on the prepared feeding to confirm patient identity and ensure the feeding has not expired. With the initiation of scanning fortifiers and additives in 2018, 2 full years of feeding data were available to evaluate the storage and feeding times of fortified HM.

“The scanning system allows for the monitoring of HM and all enteral products including tracking of inventory, lot numbers, and expiration dates as well as provides a record of when a feeding was given.”

The Timeless Medical Women & Infants System™ is the number one software used by hospitals in North America and around the globe. It supports improved outcomes for patients through product management including lot scanning, product recall preparedness, fortifier and formula scanning.

The following study was conducted independently at a facility utilizing the Timeless Women & Infants System™ with no financial incentive provided by Timeless Medical Systems

This study supports barcode scanning to improve patient safety while saving significant time in the preparation and feeding process.

“Bar-code scanning resulted in a statistically significant reduction in Nutrition Lab staff time spent directly handling breast milk. The resulting total time savings is 2,380 hours per year for the organization, with 1,040 hours completely eliminated, for a cost savings and 1,340 hours available for other patient-care duties.”

The Timeless Medical Women & Infants System™ is clinically proven to reduce costs, and save clinicians time. It is the only system able to read and decode human milk bank barcodes, and all formula manufacturer barcodes, ensuring the right feed to the right patient every time.

The following study was conducted independently at a facility utilizing the Timeless Women & Infants System™ with no financial incentive provided by Timeless Medical Systems

This study supports the use of centralized breastmilk handling and systems for proper identification of breastmilk.

“During the first 6 months of breastmilk bar code scanning, 55 attempts to feed the wrong breastmilk to the wrong patient and 127 attempts to feed expired breastmilk were prevented.”

The Timeless Medical Women & Infants SystemTM is backed by evidence based research, ensuring the right milk goes to the right patient every time and empowering clinicians to prepare and feed confidently.

The following study was conducted independently at a facility utilizing the Timeless Women & Infants System ™ with no financial incentive provided by Timeless Medical Systems