EP#27 --- How a Japanese hospital reduced dialysis errors by over 90% with just a single scan

In this episode of SCAN/STORIES, discover how a hospital in Japan transformed patient safety in one of healthcare's most complex treatment environments through the power of barcode scanning and GS1 standards.

Dialysis requires hundreds of critical checks every day. Patients, medications, medical devices and healthcare professionals must all be correctly matched throughout every treatment session. In busy clinical settings, even small errors can have serious consequences.

At Shinseikai Daiichi Hospital, the challenge was not simply adding more checks. It was creating a system where verification happens automatically, accurately and consistently. By implementing GS1 barcodes on medications and dialysers, combined with bedside scanning, the hospital established a real-time verification process that confirms the right patient, the right treatment and the right product at the point of care.

Every scan connects trusted information across people, products and systems, helping healthcare professionals work with greater confidence while reducing reliance on manual checks and memory.

The results have been remarkable. The hospital reduced incidents and errors by more than 90%, while improving workflow efficiency, team coordination and visibility across the care process.

This episode explores how trusted data, interoperability and collaboration, enabled by GS1 standards, are helping healthcare organisations build safer systems where patient safety is embedded into every step of care.