Barcode Scanning helps communities verify medications at delivery and administration. ALIS matches physical medication barcodes to active pharmacy orders in the system so staff can confirm they are handling the correct medication, maintain more accurate inventory records, and streamline med administration documentation. Communities can use Barcode Scanning for medication deliveries, medication administration, or both workflows together.
About Barcode Scanning
Barcode Scanning in ALIS includes two separate features designed to support different medication management workflows:
- Check In Orders: Used when receiving medication deliveries to verify and inventory medications being stocked on medication carts.
- Pass Meds Scanning: Used during medication administration to verify and document medications being passed to residents.
Communities can use both features together or enable either feature independently based on their workflow needs.
How Barcode Scanning Works
When a medication package is scanned, the barcode value is used to identify a specific order or group of orders. In most cases, the barcode contains the order's Prescription Number (Rx#), which ALIS receives from the pharmacy's order message.
When the scanned barcode matches information contained in an active pharmacy order, ALIS confirms the match with a Successful Scan message, indicating that the correct medication package has been identified.
For barcode scanning to function effectively, it is important that your team regularly reviews and processes pharmacy messages in the Pharmacies inbox. Unprocessed pharmacy orders prevent medications from being recognized during scanning.
Benefits of Barcode Scanning Features
Check In Orders
Barcode scanning during the check-in process helps clinical teams:
- Verify that physical medication packages are linked to active orders in the ALIS eMAR.
- Confirm medications will successfully scan during Pass Meds.
- Track medication deliveries and cycle fills.
- Maintain a more accurate inventory of medications received.
Pass Meds Scanning
Barcode scanning during medication administration helps caregivers verify:
- The right medication
- The right resident
- The right time
Scanning also reduces the need to manually locate medications on the Pass Med page, helping improve efficiency and accuracy during medication administration.
How to Enable Barcode Scanning
Barcode Scanning is an entitlement-controlled feature that must be enabled by the ALIS team. The full enablement process typically takes 2–3 weeks, although timing may vary depending on testing requirements and your pharmacy's barcode configuration.
Prerequisites
Before enabling barcode scanning, your community should have:
- A live pharmacy connection in ALIS.
- An active eMAR implementation.
- Ideally received at least 2–3 cycle fills through your ALIS pharmacy connection.
Hardware Requirements
ALIS does not provide barcode scanners. Your community and pharmacy should coordinate:
- Scanner selection
- Purchasing responsibility
- Any required scanner calibration
Both 1D and 2D barcode scanners are supported. Sharing the scanner model with the ALIS team can help streamline testing and setup.
Step 1: Contact the ALIS Team
Contact your Onboarding Manager, Account Manager, or the ALIS Customer Success Team and provide:
- Your interest in using Barcode Scanning
- Your cycle fill frequency
- Your desired 'go-live' timeline
⚠️Important: Be sure to include your pharmacy in these communications.
Step 2: Submit Barcode Examples
The ALIS team will request barcode image samples for testing. This step is required to ensure ALIS can properly recognize and process your pharmacy's barcode formats.
The ALIS Team will request barcode images that include:
- Active orders only (orders already processed in the Pharmacy Inbox)
- At least 2–3 Routine medication examples
- At least 2–3 PRN medication examples
- Single-dose packaging (if applicable)
- Multi-dose packaging (if applicable)
- Orders from at least 2–3 different residents
- Visible resident and medication information (or include identifying details in your email)
If multiple barcodes appear on the package, indicate which barcode staff will use for scanning.
Step 3: Testing and Go-Live
After testing is complete, the ALIS team will coordinate:
- Barcode scanning settings
- Workflow configuration
- Go-live timing
Check In Orders
Check In Orders uses barcode scanning as a medication inventory and verification tool.
When medication deliveries arrive, staff scan each medication package to associate the physical medication with its active order in ALIS. This helps verify that the medications received match the orders stored in the eMAR.
Using barcode scanning during inventory reduces the need to visually compare medication packaging against information on the resident's Manage Orders page.
Instead, staff can rely on barcode verification to confirm that the medication package matches the active order in ALIS. Checking in medications also prepares them for successful scanning during Pass Meds.
Once an inventory session is completed, reporting is available to show:
- Orders successfully checked in
- Active orders that have not yet been checked in
For detailed instructions, refer to the Check In Orders with Barcode Scanning guide.
⚠️Important:
- Check In Orders does not replace the need to process pharmacy messages. All pharmacy orders must first be processed from the Pharmacies page before medications can be successfully checked in.
- If a medication package is scanned before its pharmacy order has been processed, ALIS will display a message indicating that the corresponding order is still pending.
Pass Meds Scanning
Pass Meds Scanning allows caregivers to document medication administration directly from a barcode scan.
Instead of manually searching for a resident's medication order on the Pass Med page, staff can scan the medication package and allow ALIS to identify the corresponding order automatically.
This workflow provides an additional layer of verification by confirming the medication package at the time of administration.
Documenting a Med Pass
After a successful scan in Pass Meds:
- The corresponding medication order is identified.
- Select the appropriate administration outcome:
- Passed
- Refused
- Adverse Reaction
- Other
- Enter any additional documentation as needed.
For detailed instructions, refer to the Barcode Scanning in Pass Meds guide.
Automatic Outcome Selection
ALIS can be configured to automatically preselect an outcome when a medication is scanned. Many communities choose to automatically select Passed to further streamline documentation.
For more information, see this Barcode Scanning Settings guide. For assistance configuring settings, contact your Account Manager or the ALIS Customer Success Team.
Related articles:
- How To Check in Orders with Barcode Scanning
- Barcode Scanning in Pass Meds
- Barcode Scanning Settings
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