Documentation of supplies in hospitals is extremely important, and when it comes to uncrossmatched blood, also known as O –negative, it becomes absolutely critical. O-negative blood is the most required blood type in Emergency and Trauma centers due to its near universal applicability. Because of its broad applicability, time doesn’t need to be spent verifying blood types, which can eat up critical minutes in the case of a true emergency. Recently the Red Cross reported a 10% increase in blood requests from Trauma Centers since 2019. With a surge in blood need and a corresponding decrease in blood donations, due to a number of reasons including Covid-19, the proper management of blood by Emergency Departments and Trauma Centers has become a key component of quality patient care.
When it comes to the proper management and documentation of blood, Emergency Departments and Trauma Centers are usually facing an uphill battle. When a patient arrives at the Trauma Center or Emergency Department, there is rightfully a sense of urgency to care for the patient, and the manual processes required to document blood usage quickly break down. When all focus is on the patient on the table, manual documentation gets missed resulting in critical data loss. This lack of documentation can lead to devastating results, including a shortage of blood supply because re-orders are not being placed due to lack of communication. Another challenge with blood is that it has a shelf life of 48 days (about 1 and a half months), so any errors in record-keeping can lead to wasted blood, which hospitals absolutely can not afford.
To tackle this severe documentation challenge, Mobile Aspects has come up with a solution to automatically document the usage of blood. iRISecure Blood is the first and only RFID (radio frequency identification) blood tracking and documentation system designed specifically for Trauma Centers and Emergency Departments. It can track and document blood from the receipt at the hospital’s blood bank to the final transfusion to patient in the Trauma Center and everywhere in between. The system also tracks the time of receipt of blood into the blood bank, blood type, storage location, users, and can track when removed for transport to the Emergency Room or Trauma Center. The system can be integrated with the blood supplier’s information system to provide seamless communication between a blood bank and its blood supplier, as well as to the Electronic Medical Record to provide automatic documentation in the patient’s medical record.
For more information, connect with us and sign up for a demo today.