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When you receive care in a hospital, there’s a good chance the bill you receive is calculated with the help of piggyback labels, which are two labels combined into one, with one label stacked on top of the other. The labels can play a pivotal in supporting patient charge systems, but before we touch on their use in barcode charge systems, let’s look at how they work.

How Piggyback Labels Work

Piggyback labels are constructed using two layers of facestock with adhesive, two layers of liner, and a layer of adhesive. If you looked at a cross section of a piggyback label under magnification, you’d see the layers in the following order, from top to bottom.

1. Facestock
2. Adhesive layer
3. Release liner
4. Adhesive layer
5. Backing sheet

This construction allows the labels to be used in more than one fashion. The bottom adhesive layer is usually permanent adhesive, but the release liner and top adhesive layer are often designed for different purposes.

For example, if the release liner contains information that the facestock protects (e.g. a printed address label for shipping), the top adhesive layer is dry peel adhesive (i.e. temporary adhesive) that allows the blank facestock to peel away easily. Another example is when the facestock contains information. In this case, the top adhesive layer is often permanent adhesive that lets the facestock peel from the blank release liner and be applied strongly to another surface.

Piggyback labels are commonly used in one of these two fashions, but facestock and liner can be cut in different sizes, and different types of adhesive can be used interchangeably for facestock and release liner, depending on the application. This brings us to the next section: the application of using piggyback labels in barcode patient charge systems.

Use in Patient Charge Systems

Patient charge systems are computerized systems that calculate what patients owe care providers, producing a detailed list of charges for goods and services. The systems are especially helpful for hospitals, which need an efficient way to track the high volume of diverse products patients use. Piggyback labels are up to the task.

Labels that contain a barcode for cost scanning can be placed on boxes of tissue, pre-prepared IV bags, containers of medical food, and any other product that can wear an adhesive label.

This is just one example of how piggyback labels can be used to make patient charge systems operate efficiently, particularly when used with barcode technology. Other scenarios of use can be developed based on the protocols for a specific charge system.

Why Choose Shamrock for your Piggyback Labels?

For over 45 years, Shamrock Labels has offered stock and custom labeling solutions to businesses and organizations in the healthcare industry and beyond. We offer both unique services and products to meet our client’s needs. Special sizing, color, material, adhesive? Not a problem with Shamrock. Our commitment to serving customers is seen in our wide inventory and going the extra mile when customizing.

To order or learn more about our labels, call us at (800) 323-0249, or reach us through our contact form. We’d love to hear from you!