The Value of Radio Frequency Identification in Quality Management of the Blood Transfusion Chain in an Academic Hospital Setting

Abstract

Background A complex process like the blood transfusion chain could benefit from modern technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID). RFID could, for example, play an important role in generating logistic and temperature data of blood products, which are important in assessing the quality of the logistic process of blood transfusions and the product itself. Objective This study aimed to evaluate whether location, time stamp, and temperature data generated in real time by an active RFID system containing temperature sensors attached to red blood cell (RBC) products can be used to assess the compliance of the management of RBCs to 4 intrahospital European and Dutch guidelines prescribing logistic and temperature constraints in an academic hospital setting. Methods An RFID infrastructure supported the tracking and tracing of 243 tagged RBCs in a clinical setting inside the hospital at the blood transfusion laboratory, the operating room complex, and the intensive care unit within the Academic Medical Center, a large academic hospital in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The compliance of the management of 182 out of the 243 tagged RBCs could be assessed on their adherence to the following guidelines on intrahospital storage, transport, and distribution: (1) RBCs must be preserved within an environment with a temperature between 2°C and 6°C; (2) RBCs have to be transfused within 1 hour after they have left a validated cooling system; (3) RBCs that have reached a temperature above 10°C must not be restored or must be transfused within 24 hours or else be destroyed; (4) unused RBCs are to be returned to the BTL within 24 hours after they left the transfusion laboratory. Results In total, 4 blood products (4/182 compliant; 2.2%) complied to all applicable guidelines. Moreover, 15 blood products (15/182 not compliant to 1 out of several guidelines; 8.2%) were not compliant to one of the guidelines of either 2 or 3 relevant guidelines. Finally, 148 blood products (148/182 not compliant to 2 guidelines; 81.3%) were not compliant to 2 out of the 3 relevant guidelines. Conclusions The results point out the possibilities of using RFID technology to assess the quality of the blood transfusion chain itself inside a hospital setting in reference to intrahospital guidelines concerning the storage, transport, and distribution conditions of RBCs. This study shows the potentials of RFID in identifying potential bottlenecks in hospital organizations’ processes by use of objective data, which are to be tackled in process redesign efforts. The effect of these efforts can subsequently be evaluated by the use of RFID again. As such, RFID can play a significant role in optimization of the quality of the blood transfusion chain.

A Novel Blockchain-Based Model for Blood Donation System

“…Blood supply chain research has focused on transit time and maintaining blood availability in the case of a disaster. [24] suggested a model for determining the best sites for lifeblood services and the ideal lifeblood register points to meet demand. [25] and [26] presented an RFID-based blood supply chain information management system.…”

Radiofrequency identification tracking system (RFID) significantly improves blood bank inventory management and decreases staff work effort

“…This last factor was corrected during the implementation of RFID real‐time inventory assessment for all staff. We did not use the RFID system to track the quality of the cold chain in our hospital, as has been shown to be an effective quality management assessment tool by others 5 . Our study also does not include all product types, nor does it study the products from blood supplier through the full lifecycle to the eventual transfusion, as was shown to be effective by authors from Wisconsin and Iowa 6 .…”

“…We did not use the RFID system to track the quality of the cold chain in our hospital, as has been shown to be an effective quality management assessment tool by others. 5 Our study also does not include all product types, nor does it study the products from blood supplier through the full lifecycle to the eventual transfusion, as was shown to be effective by authors from Wisconsin and Iowa. 6 We focused pragmatically on RBC inventory management and in particular focused on group O RBC units due to their higher visibility, and universal concern for inventory management of these precious blood products.…”

Implementation of Blockchain-Based Blood Donation Framework

“…[7] proposed a model that determines optimal locations for setting up blood facilities and blood inventory levels that will satiate the demand. [11] and [10] proposed an RFID-based information management system for the blood issue chain. But the major pitfall of such a system is security, as data could be modified.…”