Unit of Measure Locking on Patient Scales

Unit of measure locking is an important feature on a patient weighing scale. The ability to lock a scale in either pound or metric can reduce the probability of human error when collecting patient weight data.

Properly dosing medication is of utmost importance to effective patient care. Many medications are dosed by patient weight and inaccurate patient weighments can affect the efficacy of medication or cause adverse effects. One cause for inaccurate patient weight data occurs during weight data collection, when the healthcare professional records the incorrect value into the patient’s chart, or if the recorded weight is in the incorrect unit of measure. Most digital patient scales have the ability to toggle between pounds and kilograms. If the healthcare professional collects the patient’s weight in the incorrect unit, whether intentional or not, it can lead to calculation errors, inaccurate dosing, and detrimental patient outcomes.

Although most digital medical scales allow you to toggle between units of measure, we recommend locking your desired unit of measure at all times, which only allows your scale to present weighments in your preferred measurement unit. After locking your desired unit of measure on a Rice Lake scale, the only way to change it is by accessing the scale’s menu structure. Locking the unit of measure prevents healthcare professionals from accidentally changing the scale’s unit of measure, deters human error at the scale, and allows for more consistent, accurate weight data.

Rice Lake manufactures and distributes Healthweigh®️ physician scales, wheelchair scales, pediatric scales, and more—providing a scale for every stage of life. All Rice Lake patient scales are equipped with unit of measure locking and are backed by our 24/7 customer support team. If your healthcare facility uses a Rice Lake patient scale and would like specific instructions how to lock the unit of measurement, please refer to your scale manual.