Quality management in the transfusion service: case studies in process improvement.

Background: Laboratory-based quality improvement (QI) initiatives can improve clinical outcomes and patient safety.

Study Design And Methods: We present three cases of QI that impact processes from the transfusion service (TS) laboratory to the patient's bedside.

Results: Case 1 was event discovery reporting (EDR).

Improving platelet supply chains through collaborations between blood centers and transfusion services.

Background: Blood centers and hospital transfusion services are challenged with maintaining an adequate platelet (PLT) inventory to minimize the number of outdated units without risking a major shortage. A novel approach to inventory management was established at our institution through a collaboration between the Stanford University Medical Center (SUMC) Transfusion Service, the Stanford Blood Center (SBC), and the Department of Management Science and Engineering.

Study Design And Methods: An analysis of the supply chain performance between SBC and SUMC Transfusion Service was performed.

Implementation of a two-specimen requirement for verification of ABO/Rh for blood transfusion.

Background: This study presents our implementation of a two-specimen requirement with no prior record of ABO/Rh to verify patients' blood type before transfusion.

Materials And Methods: Blood type verification was introduced, discussed, approved, and implemented over a 12-month period (May 2007 to May 2008). Potential barriers and impact on benchmark indicators were identified and tracked.