It's a Fact

  • AzHHA's Safe & Sound initiative's Color-Coded Wristband Standardization Work Group found that eight different colors/methods were being used throughout Arizona to designate a “Do Not Resuscitate” order.
  • The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently featured AzHHA’s hospital wristband toolkit in the “Spotlight” section of its QualityTools Web site. QualityTools is a clearinghouse for practical, ready-to-use tools for measuring and improving the quality of healthcare. AHRQ’s QualityTools Web site is located at www.qualitytools.ahrq.gov.

Patient Wristbands

Safe & Sound Color-Coded Wristband Standardization

Color-coded patient wristbands can be an effective way to communicate a wide variety of patient information to medical personnel. Yet unless the same color designates the same condition to all medical personnel, errors can occur. AzHHA's Safe & Sound initiative formed a Color-Coded Wristband Standardization Work Group to regulate this potentially dangerous situation, and today, more than 90 percent of Arizona hospitals have converted to the same three wristband colors and 11 states are embracing the Arizona model. The work group also made it more convenient for hospitals to implement this system by creating an Arizona Color-Coded Wristband Standardization tool kit: