The Impact of an Electronic Ordering System on Blood Bank Specimen Rejection Rates.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the impact that an electronic ordering system has on the rate of rejection of blood type and screen testing samples and the impact on the number of ABO blood-type discrepancies over a 4-year period.


METHODS
An electronic ordering system was implemented in May 2011. Rejection rates along with reasons for rejection were tracked between January 2010 and December 2013.


RESULTS
A total of 40,104 blood samples were received during this period, of which 706 (1.8%) were rejected for the following reasons: 382 (54.0%) unsigned samples, 235 (33.0%) mislabeled samples, 57 (8.0%) unsigned requisitions, 18 (2.5%) incorrect tubes, and 14 (1.9%) ABO discrepancies. Of the samples, 2.5% were rejected in the year prior to implementing the electronic ordering system compared with 1.2% in the year following implementation ( P  < .0001).


CONCLUSIONS
Our data demonstrate that implementation of an electronic ordering system significantly decreased the rate of blood sample rejection.
From the Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY.|NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY.
Stefanie K
SK
Forest
From the Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY.|NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY.
Maryam
M
Shirazi
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY.
Charlotte
C
Wu-Gall
From the Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY.|NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY.
Brie A
BA
Stotler
D000094902:Blood Banking / Q000379:methods*; D001787:Blood Group Incompatibility / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001788:Blood Grouping and Crossmatching / Q000379:methods*; D001330:Electronic Data Processing / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*
Barcode; Blood transfusion; Electronic order; Medical errors/prevention and control; Wrong blood in tube