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By Marcia Cardoso, Senior Manager, Global Scientific Marketing, Europe

This is the third in a series of articles that showcase the value of our scientific marketing team as a bridge between our research and insights and the greater healthcare community. You can start reading the series here. Read the previous article here.

In transfusion medicine, the value of automated data collection and information system connectivity is often tied to two factors — improved operational productivity to better manage supply and demand and enforcement of  compliance by ensuring traceability of blood and blood products. And those remain key benefits of removing data silos.


But there's another area that deserves heightened attention and a targeted, data-driven focus: Donor hemovigilance.

While the risks to donors in donating blood is extremely low, it does exist. According to the International Surveillance of Transfusion-Associated Reactions and Events (ISTARE) database, donor reactions occur at the rate of 1 in every 150 donations.¹ They are mostly minor and rarely severe.

Yet every adverse effect or undesirable experience has the potential to affect:

• The individual donor's comfort and health 
• Overall blood supply — donors who experience an adverse effect are less likely to return

Identifying improvement opportunities in blood donor safety
A significant step toward improving donor safety starts with harnessing data and connecting the blood center ecosystem. Fortunately, advancements in technology can make gathering and acting on data seamless.

Efficient, simple, and paperless systems — versus manual, cumbersome, error-prone reporting — can be implemented in ways that enable operators to electronically capture donor adverse reaction information (among other types of donor safety data) immediately at the collection site. 

In addition, connectivity among devices and information systems supports consolidated oversight that can pinpoint areas that need improvement. Those areas can then be remediated with targeted staff education, procedure changes, or other operational adjustments.


Two case studies focused on donor experience
The concept of improving operations from automated data collection and systems connectivity can seem abstract at a high level, but when you look at what you can specifically measure and improve, including in donor safety, the value becomes clear.

In a recent study² conducted by the Transfusion Center of the Community of Valencia, Spain, and Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies, researchers used TOMEs (Terumo Operational Medical Equipment Software) connected to the Trima Accel® Automated Blood Collection System and other compatible devices across three collection sites to enable automated data collection and unified data management.

Using the communication capabilities of TOMEs, devices were configured to require operators to record specific incidents, such as venous access problems, adverse reactions, and technical problems, during each apheresis procedure. After that data was analyzed, the center was able to, for example, isolate operator training opportunities to address higher instances of venipuncture issues at one collection site compared to others with higher collection volumes.

In another study,³ the Blood and Tissue Bank of Navarra, Spain, used TOMEs functionality to require that device operators answer preconfigured adverse event questions after each blood donation. From data analysis, the center was able to consider donor experience enhancements.


Setting baselines and exploring new strategies
As blood centers consider how to use the increased ability to capture and mine data from connected devices, we encourage the establishment of baselines for 
donor safety benchmarking. 

From hematoma incidence to nausea interventions to voice-of-donor comfort surveys, it's important to understand the complete donor experience. And of course, once optimization strategies are deployed, additional monitoring is recommended to evaluate the results.

The bottom line: When systems and data are connected, the opportunities to assess blood center operations, reduce waste, improve blood and donor safety, and develop new strategies for consistency and efficiency are vast. 

If you have any questions about assessing donor safety data in your operations, please reach out to us using the Contact Us button below.

Access the two case study abstracts mentioned in this article here.

Coming up next: A look at the progress in improving whole-blood processing — and how adoption of automation is at a tipping point.

BIO:
Marcia Cardoso, PhD, has served as Senior Manager, Global Scientific Marketing, Europe, at Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies since 2011. As an internationally recognized expert in transfusion medicine, she has three decades of both academic and commercial experience in the development of biological and medical device products and technologies. She has authored or co-authored over 100 scientific papers and abstracts and has one patent. She has served on and led numerous international working committees related to transfusion medicine and blood safety. 


¹ Politis C, Wiersum JC, Richardson C, Robillard P, Jorgensen J, Renaudier P, Faber JC, Wood EM. The International Haemovigilance Network Database for the
Surveillance of Adverse Reactions and Events in Donors and Recipients of Blood Components: technical issues and results. Vox Sang. (2016) 111, 409–417.

² Larrea L, Guerrero R, Giménez-Richarte Á, Callao V, Castelló E, Chaves A, Cardoso M, De Andrade M, Ortizde-Salazar M, Roig R, Arbona C. Assessing the potential of bi-directional connectivity between devices and blood bank information system. ISBT 2022 - Abstract Book. Vox Sang, 117: 6-271. 

³ Del Castillo Torres C,  Espi Cavalgante E, Alvarez Aguado L, Chocarro Asenjo B, Oiz Eugui M, Moreno Gines A, Cardoso M, Urra M, Garcia Erce J. Automated data recording of adverse events by apheresis collection through electronic device connectivity. (2022), Poster Presentations. Transfus Med, 32: 5-12. 



Disclaimer: TOMEs and Trima Accel are available in select markets.​