Like much of the healthcare world, blood centers and blood processing laboratories are dealing with labor shortages and high staff turnover rates. The overall staff vacancy rate at blood centers, using the U.S. as a baseline, is reportedly over 10%,1 making it one of the highest vacancy rates of all laboratory department types. The vacancy rate for supervisors at blood centers is also a concern at over 7%.1
As the industry addresses workforce issues, it's important to consider all the ways automation can help. In a recent Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies white paper, TOMEs: Improving Blood Center Operations, One Clipboard at a Time,2 the authors discussed how one hospital lab turned to TOMEs (Terumo Operational Medical Equipment Software) to automate 12 processes relating to data management. The original objective of the implementation was to simplify workflow and improve compliance. But just as increasing data collection and insights can help improve donor hemovigilance (as we discussed in a previous article), in this case, it additionally helped improve the laboratory staff's day-to-day jobs.
We sat down with one of the coauthors of the paper, Aspen King, PhD, Global Scientific Marketing Associate, to explore the issue further.
Q: Let's start with the blood center featured in the white paper. What was the organization's impetus for moving to automated data management?
As a pediatric institution, this hospital blood center has a frequent need to transfer platelets into syringes or small bags for transfusion to infants. Once aliquoted, these platelets must be transfused within four hours. So, recording accurate sterile weld times is essential.
The lab was using a combination of software and manual tracking — paper on clipboards — to capture data. Records were reviewed manually by a supervisor who would walk around the lab to each clipboard and sign off on them every week. These processes were tedious, in addition to being prone to mistakes and illegibility. By implementing TOMEs, they knew they could reduce errors and improve traceability and take advantage of real-time reporting and review.
Q: Is the use of manual data entry — paper and clipboards — still a common occurrence at blood centers?
At many blood centers, yes. This is a highly regulated industry; transformation can often be slow because changing processes can possibly impact compliance. Consider that this particular blood center is part of one of the largest free-standing pediatric medical centers in the U.S. The center transfuses more than 11,000 units of blood to approximately 1,300 patients each year. Automated data capture and management wasn't the norm even at their size until the transition to TOMEs.
Q: How did the lack of automated data collection and management affect lab staff?
It impacted how they performed their day-to-day jobs. Without automated data capture, processes were slower.
Plus, when data entry mistakes happen, it affects staff confidence and increases performance pressure.
Keep in mind that one of the top three issues that laboratory staff members say impacts their decisions to leave a job is workload/stress.1 Then consider that, on average, if a staff member leaves, it can take three to six months to hire a replacement.1 Hiring a new supervisor can take a year for blood centers, on average.1 So anything blood centers can do to alleviate workload and turnover, and prevent staff frustration, is going to be a good idea.
Q: Did the blood center know what data processes they wanted to automate from the beginning of the TOMEs implementation?
Initially, automated processes were created only to replace those that had been utilized for sterile-welding activities. But once that implementation was completed, the staff saw the value right away. Eventually, they created 12 processes in TOMEs to automate the data capture of nearly all of their lab's procedures. Workflow was streamlined, and a manager could access all records from one computer instead of walking to each workstation.
Q: How can readers learn more?
For more information, including details on which processes were automated, you can download the complete white paper here. Or you can always reach out to me or any of our experts to discuss the value of data connectivity and automation for their operations.
BIO:
Aspen King, PhD, has been with Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies since April 2021 and currently serves as an associate on the Global Scientific Marketing Team. She received her doctorate in biological education with emphasis in Immunology from the University of Northern Colorado. At Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies, she focuses on projects related to blood donor recruitment and patient blood management.
Sources:
1Garcia E, Kundu I, Kelly M, Soles R. The American Society for Clinical Pathology 2020 Vacancy Survey of Medical Laboratories in the United States. Am J Clin Pathol 2022;157(6):874-889
2Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies. TOMEs: Improving Blood Center Operations, One Clipboard at a Time. 2022. Part number BC-TOME-00051.
https://www.terumobct.com/Pages/News/Press%20Releases/Using-Automated-Data-Collection-and-Device-Connectivity-to-Improve-Donor-Safety.aspx