Biomaterial Database

Inventory management in Sydney Public Hospital Blood Banks. 1994

J Pink, and A Thomson, and B Wylie

NSW Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, Sydney, Australia.

Monitoring the outdating of donated units is one way of assessing the efficiency of blood usage. Inventory management in public hospital blood banks in Sydney was reviewed with the aim of determining factors which lead to the outdating of donor blood. Factors which correlated significantly with increased outdating in hospitals included absence of an effective hospital transfusion committee; high ratio of average inventory: units transfused; fewer than three routine deliveries from the BTS per day; increased time taken for delivery of urgent products; CT values greater than 2:1, premature performance of the crossmatch and prolonged crossmatching holding time. Hospitals were informed of the initial audit results and were alerted to the factors contributing to excessive outdating. They received monthly feedback of individual outdating results compared with overall outdating. After 6 months there was a significant reduction in overall outdating from 5.0 to 0.9% (P < 0.05), which has been maintained for a further 12 months. Changes in inventory management associated with an improvement in overall outdating included: changes in crossmatching practice which increase the effective shelf-life of blood, knowledge of when blood was due to outdate and effective stock rotation.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008330	Management Audit	Management review designed to evaluate efficiency and to identify areas in need of management improvement within the institution in order to ensure effectiveness in meeting organizational goals.	Operational Audit,Audit, Management,Audit, Operational,Audits, Management,Audits, Operational,Management Audits,Operational Audits
D009517	New South Wales	A state in southeastern Australia. Its capital is Sydney. It was discovered by Captain Cook in 1770 and first settled at Botany Bay by marines and convicts in 1788. It was named by Captain Cook who thought its coastline resembled that of South Wales. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p840 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p377)
D011785	Quality Assurance, Health Care	Activities and programs intended to assure or improve the quality of care in either a defined medical setting or a program. The concept includes the assessment or evaluation of the quality of care; identification of problems or shortcomings in the delivery of care; designing activities to overcome these deficiencies; and follow-up monitoring to ensure effectiveness of corrective steps.	Quality Assessment, Health Care,Health Care Quality Assessment,Health Care Quality Assurance,Healthcare Quality Assessment,Healthcare Quality Assurance,Quality Assessment, Healthcare,Quality Assurance, Healthcare,Assessment, Healthcare Quality,Assessments, Healthcare Quality,Assurance, Healthcare Quality,Assurances, Healthcare Quality,Healthcare Quality Assessments,Healthcare Quality Assurances,Quality Assessments, Healthcare,Quality Assurances, Healthcare
D001771	Blood Banks	Centers for collecting, characterizing and storing blood or plasma.	Bank, Blood,Banks, Blood,Blood Bank
D001793	Blood Preservation	The process by which blood or its components are kept viable outside of the organism from which they are derived (i.e., kept from decay by means of a chemical agent, cooling, or a fluid substitute that mimics the natural state within the organism).	Blood Preservations,Preservation, Blood,Preservations, Blood
D001803	Blood Transfusion	The introduction of whole blood or blood component directly into the blood stream. (Dorland, 27th ed)	Blood Transfusions,Transfusion, Blood,Transfusions, Blood
D003363	Cost Control	The containment, regulation, or restraint of costs. Costs are said to be contained when the value of resources committed to an activity is not considered excessive. This determination is frequently subjective and dependent upon the specific geographic area of the activity being measured. (From Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)	Cost Containment,Containment, Cost,Containments, Cost,Control, Cost,Controls, Cost,Cost Containments,Cost Controls
D006761	Hospitals	Institutions with an organized medical staff which provide medical care to patients.	Hospital
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D013997	Time Factors	Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.	Time Series,Factor, Time,Time Factor