Improving blood transfusion practice by educational emphasis of the Blood Utilization Committee: experience of one hospital.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to reduce crossmatch to transfusion ratio through development of a new Blood Utilization Committee.


BACKGROUND
Blood utilization hinges on the cooperation between transfusion services, medical staff, nursing and administration. Transfusion committees have attempted to bring about better oversight and bridge the gap between departments but in our institution this did not work until we had a catalyst to drive the effort. The unabashed desire and enthusiasm of one of our cardiac surgeons for self-improvement led to the formation of a new Blood Utilization Committee in October of 2012.


METHODS
Crossmatch and transfusion data were gathered from our blood bank information system starting with the 4th quarter of 2011 through the 1st quarter of 2013. The crossmatch to transfusion ratio (C:T) was calculated and comparisons were made between the results from before and after the initiation of the committee.


RESULTS
At the commencement of the committee the initial C:T for the cardiac team was 2.48. We calculated a decrease of the C:T to 1.5 four months after the November 2012 formation of the new committee. The P-value calculated (P<0.0005) proved that the decrease was statistically significant.


CONCLUSIONS
The initial impulse generated by the cardiothoracic surgery team is now spreading to other DRG groups in our hospital and we are seeing a drop in their C:T as well. Better blood utilization is attainable when the physicians who perform most transfusions lead the charge.
Mount Sinai Medical Center, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Miami Beach, Florida, USA. Electronic address: elena.vrotsos@msmc.com.
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E
Vrotsos
Mount Sinai Medical Center, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
B
B
Gonzalez
Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
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RC
Goldszer
Mount Sinai Medical Center, Department of Anesthesiology, Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
G
G
Rosen
Mount Sinai Medical Center, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
A
A
La Pietra
Mount Sinai Medical Center, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
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L
Howard
D001788:Blood Grouping and Crossmatching; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D011367:Professional Staff Committees; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014600:Utilization Review
Audit des pratiques transfusionnelles; Hemosiderosis; Hemovigilance; Iron overload; Ratio sang compatibilisé/sang transfusé; Transfusion; Utilisation des produits sanguins