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10 Medical Label Features That Help You Run Your Practice Better

February 13, 2018 By Doug Danosky

Medical Label Features

Have you ever had to stick a label on a bag or chart with scotch tape? Ever had print text too small it could barely be read? Resorted to using a sharpie to convey important messages? Had to put up with labels that slide off easier than an old band-aid?

Medical labels aren’t very important until they’re a problem. When you can’t write on a label at a critical moment, when a label is too small to read, damaged or doesn’t work for an application, it’s more than just frustrating - it's infuriating! Not only do poor quality medical labels waste your time, all those label malfunctions result in missed information or instructions.

Functional medical labels are a requirement—it’s a matter of patient protection and safety.

At the heart of it, medical labels are a communication tool. Nowhere is communication more important than when it ensures patient wellbeing. Whether you need medical labels that stand up to environmental stress—heat, water and chemicals—or simply wear and tear, T&L has you covered.

When selecting a healthcare label, it is important to consider what you need your label to withstand. Here are 10 important medical label features and options to assess as you select your medical labels. 

  1. Permanent Label Adhesive
    Whether you need medical labels to adhere to plastic, metal, glass or even cloth, we know how to make your label stick—for good. The adhesive needs to stay strong under various temperatures, whether indicating your autoclave process is complete or when used for freezing, cryogenics and refrigeration. Nothing’s more confusing (or dangerous!) than a missing label!
  2. Thermal Sensitivity
    Do you need thermal printer compatible medical labels? Printable labels are a staple in the medical world—and thermal medical labels need to stand up to smearing and fading. Need custom thermal healthcare labels? You got it. Convey any and all important patient information and instructions on your label. Thermal and laser printed labels are also scannable—for easy tracking, ensured patient privacy and fast communication.
  3. Clear Graphics
    Clear, easy-to-read graphics featuring common, understandable signs and symbols are important for patient and practitioner communication. In a busy office, you rely on labels—whether you’re looking at a healthcare chart or medical equipment. Medical labels in bright colors can serve as a warning, an easy way to sort and organize, and a clear way to communicate important messages like allergies and hazards. Clear, easy-to-apply, easy-to-read and understand medical labels are vital.
  4. Smudge-Proof Labels
    Medical labels need to stand up to water, heat, chemicals and rough handling. If a label is smudged, the message is lost. Smudge-proof coating and lamination are important for protecting labels from moisture. Heat and chemical-resistant coatings are used in laboratories, phlebotomy, pharmaceuticals and infusion therapies. UV coatings offer yet another layer of label protection with ultraviolet light used to cure varnish to protect the label.
  5. Easy-to-Dispense Pull-Tabs
    Nurses, doctors and office personnel juggle handfuls of tasks at once. The LAST thing you need to wrestle with is a label that’s hard to access. Easy-to-dispense pull-tab healthcare labels ensure you’ll get the label you need without dropping the ball. Apply easy-to-dispense labels with one hand so you can quickly communicate the message and move on. Not only does this prevent confusion and mix-ups but it boosts patient safety.
  6. Drug-Class Color Coding
    Medical practitioners and pharmacists need to know as much as possible about a drug at a glance. With restrictions on dispensing drugs based on classification, using an easy color-coded system helps clarify drug types fast. We offer medical labels with standard drug-class color coding so you know exactly what’s prescribed to your patient.
  7. Writable Labels (for Specimens & Charting)
    Any nurse or lab tech who’s struggled to write specimen information on a label knows: writable medical labels are a sanity-saver. Nothing’s quite as aggravating as searching for a pen or marker when you’re charting or labeling a sample. Easy, writable labels (that work with a variety of inks) for charting and specimen samples are an office staple for every medical practice and lab.
  8. Laser & Dot-Matrix Compatibility
    Laser printing and dot-matrix printers are everywhere in the medical world. Dot-matrix printing allows labs, radiologists and even claims specialists to print carbon forms. With laser printer compatible labels, you get clear, scannable barcodes—so critical to tracking and patient privacy. Laser and dot-matrix compatible labels means easy printing for your practice.
  9. Chemical-Resistant Numbering
    Chemical resistant labels are used most often in pathology, surgery and clinical applications. Often specimens are tracked with number systems and tools are marked with color-coded tape. When chemicals like xylene and tissue marking dyes like Shandon are used in your lab, you need marking tape and labels that will stand up to chemicals and solvents for slides, containers and bottles.
  10. Consecutive Barcoding
    Blood banks and laboratories use consecutive barcoding on their medical labels to track samples and ensure the privacy of patients and donors. From the moment a sample is drawn until it’s delivered to a bank, supplied to patient-in-need or processed by a lab, you need to know where that sample is. Consecutive barcoding label systems allow you to apply labels and track blood with ease.

What do you need your medical labels to withstand and communicate effectively? We can help you assess, select and receive the medical labels that will help you provide even better patient care.  Let's Chat. 

Filed Under: healthcare label, medical label Tagged With: adhesive, chemical-resistant, consecutive barcoding, label, medical label, pull-tabs, smudge-proof labels, thermal sensitivity

Sometimes You Need to Blow Their Minds with a “Wow” Label

September 29, 2017 By Doug Danosky

unique label designs

When a simple one-sided label won’t do the trick, you need a “wow” label. Here are our favorite unique labels, that will elevate the functionality and appeal of your product.

Instant redeemable coupon labels

Whether you want to reach customers with direct mailings or at a point of purchase, instant redeemable coupon (IRC) labels are an eye-catching alternative to traditional clip or tear-away coupons. Using an intuitive, dry peel-off card design, IRC labels provide consumers with an interactive and immediate way to access promotional offers, coupon codes, barcodes, sweepstakes, rebates and more.

Ensure that your IRC label functions properly by using an ultraviolet (UV) coating to protect and secure the print below the peel-off layer and a residue-free adhesive that holds without the mess.

Scratch-offs

Scratch-off labels are another creative and interactive solution for delivering information or promotional offers. Scratch-off labels use a tear-proof film material, topped with a scratch-off primer and metallic ink layer, to create an engaging, hands-on customer experience.

High quality, fresh ink is a must. If you’ve ever encountered a poorly functioning scratch-off, it’s likely a result of low-quality or expired ink. The ink, which only has a three-month shelf life, is specially formulated and must be mixed to order, so plan on about eight to 10 days for order completion.

Piggyback labels

Piggyback labels are the ultimate convenience labels, providing users with a handy pre-printed or blank label that can easily be removed and applied anywhere. As the name implies, a piggyback label consists of two labels, where one label piggybacks, or sits atop, another label. A middle layer is used to adhere the top layer, or face of the label, to a bottom liner that sticks to the surface to which it’s applied.

Piggybacks have seemingly endless customization options, so think through the features and use cases that will help you reach your goals and a positive return on your label investment.

Variable image labels

Often utilitarian, variable image labels pack the ultimate punch for manufacturers, supplier, distributors and direct mail advertisers. Have you ever checked the status of a package to find that it’s at a particular pre-shipping location? Well, that detailed tracking was likely made possible by a scannable barcode printed on a variable image label.

These truly one-of-a-kind labels contain barcodes, personalized text, images or other information that changes from one label to the next, which allows companies to scale their operations while maintaining control over things like inventory, marketing messages, routing and complex workflows.

Thanks to advances in printing technology, variable printing is a cost- and time-effective way to customize individual labels. However, mistakes can be costly, so remember to carefully proof your data, such as sequential numbering logic or copy variations.

Self-Laminating Labels

If you’re looking for a resilient label that will withstand everyday wear and tear, dirty, or even extreme outdoor conditions, self-laminating labels stand above the rest. These durable and customizable labels typically consist of a smudge-free layer for writing and an overlying, clear laminate layer that can be self-applied by the user.

Selecting the best materials for your use case is critical to the success of your self-laminating label, so carefully consider your end users’ requirements for durability, adhesive strength, pliability, colors, pre-printed fields, permanence, and other factors.

Conclusion

Finding a trusted label supplier that can help you find the best label - no matter how unique - can be challenging. At T&L Graphic Systems, our experienced team works to understand your needs and find a solution that’s right for you. Check out our latest white paper, How To Create The Perfect Label. 

 

Filed Under: commercial label, custom label, food and beverage label, healthcare label, medical label Tagged With: label, label artwork, Unique label

Labels: 4 Common Artwork Problems and How to Avoid Them

July 21, 2017 By Doug Danosky

Label artwork with Font Subsitution

We’ve been in the label business since 1984, so we’ve seen a thing or two when it comes to label artwork. While we’ve received some truly stunning designs, we’ve also seen customers waste time, money and energy on avoidable mistakes. Here are the top four label artwork problems we’ve seen and how you can avoid them:

1. Font conflicts

Fonts have inherent challenges that complicate the handoff from designer to printer. Depending on the program used to create or read a font, a program or software version may interpret font styles and sizes differently. Just because a font has the same name doesn’t mean all programs will read it consistently. There are also thousands of fonts available to the design community, and many designers create custom fonts, making it impossible for a label supplier to access that font by having it preloaded on its computer.

The only way to avoid these issues is to provide your label printer with the font file or convert your label’s text to paths.

2. Color replication imperfections

If you see a color you like, perhaps on a website or article of clothing, it’s difficult to flawlessly reproduce that color in print unless it’s a solid color like the red, white and blue of the American flag. Introducing any variation of color, like a lighter blue, gradients of a flag waving, or shadows, complicates the color composition. Similar to when you match paint for your home, artwork colors can be reproduced using a color matching system, but it isn’t perfect.

For a perfect color replication, provide your label printer with the Pantone Matching System (PMS) colors. By specifying the Pantone name or number, you can guarantee that your color is exact.

3. Low-quality images

If an image looks great on your website or Facebook page, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the quality will translate to your label. For a crisp and professional look, the pixels or tiny dots of color need to be smaller and closer together than for the web, which typically only requires a resolution of 72 to 120 dpi (dots per inch).

Before sending your artwork to your label printer, make sure you include high-resolution images or photos that are a minimum of 600 dpi.

4. Drop shadow preset styles

A drop shadow, or a visual effect that looks like a shadow, allows artists to add depth or a raised effect to an otherwise flat object. While this effect looks great on a computer, it doesn’t always translate to print. Drop shadows look black on a computer monitor but actually require a four-color process to make the effect convincing. Design programs like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator make it easy to add effects like this with preset styles, but they typically default to lower quality images with ambiguous color makeup.

When including special effects like drop shadows in your label artwork, create high-resolution images that are at least 600 dpi; control your color values by providing your label printer with a Pantone name or number (PMS).

In conclusion

Advancements in technology have paved the way for design innovation, but have also opened up room for digital issues with fonts, colors, image quality, and design effects that, if not caught, can result in a label that misrepresents your brand. To make your next labeling project a success, be mindful of these tips and also download our eGuide, How to Create the Perfect Label: The 5 Most Important Questions to Ask.

Filed Under: production tips Tagged With: Artwork, Color replication on labels, Drop shadows on labels, Images on labels, label, label artwork, Label artwork problems

Avoid These Environmental Label Fails

March 24, 2016 By Doug Danosky

Environmental label fails

The environment is one of five big factors that can have a negative impact on label performance.

Hot, cold and moist conditions can cause labels to peel, fall off, fade and smear. Exposure to everyday liquids or UV exposure may cause reactions with the color and adhesiveness of a label. In other cases, productivity and safety could be affected if product labels become damaged or aren’t clearly visible.

Here are four label applications and the types of environmental factors that can have a significant impact on label life:

Furniture Labels

In the furniture industry, labels are applied to various fabrics. Most furniture labels have very specific legal requirements: they must be made of specific materials, and they cannot come off or wear over time with use.

Medical and Pharmaceutical Labels

Medical and pharmaceutical labels must be created to adhere correctly to withstand today’s fast-paced modern medical environments. High quality medical labels can be designed to be tamper-resistant and/or fluid-resistant, as well as laminated and sealed to withstand a wide variety of medical environments.

Industrial, Shipping and Logistics Labels

Warehouse productivity is increased when logistics teams aren’t worried about malfunctioning labels. Industrial, shipping and logistics labels must be easily scannable and readable for streamlined processes and effective inventory control. Plus, you’ll need labels tough enough to withstand being handled and tossed around.

Other Labels

Chemicals in lotions, hand sanitizers, and other everyday products can cause reactions with the color and adhesiveness of a label. It’s important for your label to be able to stand up to these chemicals, as well as other environmental factors, especially if permanence is required.

If your product will be subject to sun exposure, you may want a UV label coating to seal and protect the print. As an added bonus, it will help the colors pop and draw more attention to the label.

If your label application requires extra security measures, thermochromatic inks and labels are another option. These labels change color when touched to ensure sensitive materials are never tampered with.

Conclusion

Plan your label in advance. Anticipate where it will be attached, and what environmental conditions that carrier is likely to encounter throughout its life cycle. Addressing these details during the design process will ensure a better overall experience with your label provider, and will help prevent production headaches later.

How to Create the Perfect LabelNow that you have a better understanding of the ways in which the environment can affect label life, why not download our new eGuide, How to Create the Perfect Label: The 5 Most Important Questions to Ask, to learn more about the other four factors.

Filed Under: food and beverage label, healthcare label, medical label Tagged With: environment, furniture labels, industrial labels, label, logistics labels, medical labels, pharmaceutical labels

6 Qualities of Eye-Catching Product Labels

January 18, 2016 By Doug Danosky

woman-looking-at-jam-commercial-labels

Product label design plays a critical role in your product marketing—it’s THE element that convinces customers to buy your product rather than a competitor’s next to it on the shelf. To help you create your eye-catching custom label that’s sure to grab attention, consider the following six qualities as you work on your label design. [Read more…]

Filed Under: commercial label Tagged With: commercial labels, custom label printing, custom labels, custom labels printing, graphic label printing, label, label adhesive, label color, label finish, label font, label graphic printing, label graphics, label material, label printing, label qualities, label shape, labels

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