Using QR Codes in the Medical Industry
Posted on by Timothy Boyle
Despite being around for 20+ years, and having many potential benefits, QR codes are only now beginning to pop up in the medical industry. The main uses of such a technology would be improved marketing abilities, information distribution and more importantly superior medical treatment and efficiency. Below are a few ways a medical facility might use this technology to improve their business.
The most important potential use of this technology and a way to help reduce medical errors, and provide information to a medical provider quickly is to promote an “emergency card” that everyone should carry on them at all times. On this card there would be a QR code which if scanned would take you to important information about the individual. For example it might have a list of all known allergies the patient suffers from, what blood type they are, or any other information that a medical provider might need to know, and particularly those providers like EMT’s or ER doctors who need the information quickly. Having this information readily available in an emergency might mean the difference between life and death.
A QR codes can also be used to provide various types of information to customers. For example a medical facility might hand out a refrigerator magnet containing a QR code to their customers. If it was a hospital the QR code upon scanning might provide the ER wait time. If it is was a family doctor, dentist or a similar practice the QR code upon scanning might take the customer to a landing page where they can schedule an appointment. Or the QR code might provide some information for those people coming off some surgery or procedure, so that if they have questions they can simply scan the code on their refrigerator and have most of their questions answered. There are seemingly endless ways you might use this technology to provide information and services to customers.
Lastly, QR codes can be used to market your medical facility, yourself, or other medical providers. For example a dentist might provide potential customers or a local family doctor (who might send referrals) with a brochure containing a QR code, or place the code on an ad in a magazine. Upon scanning this QR code it might take you to a video of the dentist explaining his background and expertise, or a video of customers talking about their experience. It might also take you to a video touring the medical facility, or showing off some special equipment. Putting this sort of marketing material at the finger tips of potential customers should go a long way to making your expertise known and keeping your medical practice growing.
These are just a handful of ways the medical industry might benefit from using QR codes, but it is always important to point out that QR codes best practices must be followed, and having the best QR code connected mobile website platform is a must.
