The hospital plans to implement a wireless barcoding system that will tie together drug information, patient records and doctors' orders.

The hospital, part of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, will be upgrading its clinical computer systems through a deal with IDX Systems Corp. (NASDAQ: IDXC) of Burlington, Vt.

"Wireless barcode charting is critical to completely closing the loop on medication safety," Ron Small, vice president for quality outcomes at the medical center and its chief pharmacy officer, said in a news release.

A pilot program on one nursing unit is scheduled to begin in January.

The technology is designed to reduce errors when medications are administered, the second-most likely place for errors to occur. The technology will check to ensure that the right drugs are being administered to the right patient via the right route at the right time.

Once the system is fully implemented, each dose of medication will be barcoded before it leaves the pharmacy. Clinicians administering the drugs will use a hand-held scanner to scan the drug and the a wrist bracelet on the patient. The computer system will then check to make sure that the correct medication is being given to the patient.