The status of automation and data processing in the United States blood banking community.

A survey of the extent of automation and data processing in the blood banking community was conducted by questionnaire. The likelihood that a facility had some type of automation was related to the volume of blood products produced or transfused. Facilitates that collected blood or collected and transfused blood were more likely to have automation for ABO and Rh testing than those that only transfused blood. Automation for many other blood bank tests is unavailable. Many facilities had data processing capability, which is used primarily for accounting.