Htc. Lam et al., ARE RETROSPECTIVE PEER-REVIEW TRANSFUSION MONITORING SYSTEMS EFFECTIVE IN REDUCING RED-BLOOD-CELL UTILIZATION, Archives of pathology and laboratory medicine, 120(9), 1996, pp. 810-816
Citations number
25
Categorie Soggetti
Pathology,"Medical Laboratory Technology","Medicine, Research & Experimental
Objective.-This research used a study-control group design and examine
d data collected from five hospitals to evaluate the effectiveness of
retrospective peer-review systems on reducing utilization of red blood
cells (RBCs). Design.-The effects of retrospective peer-review system
s were studied in three parts: (1) trends of RBC utilization were comp
ared by the slopes of linear regression lines that assessed the effect
of time on RBC utilization among four study hospitals and one control
hospital, (2) diagnosis-specific RBC utilization was compared between
the control hospital and one matched study hospital, and (3) the effe
ct of the retrospective review system of one study hospital was assess
ed by linear regression using data accumulated 1 year before and 2 yea
rs after implementation of the program. Results.-Three study hospitals
showed no significant changes in RBC utilization during the 10-month
study period. One study hospital and the control hospital demonstrated
trends of reduced RBC use with negative slopes of regression lines; h
owever, there was no difference in the degree of the two slopes, and t
he diagnosis-specific RBC utilization was not lower at the study hospi
tal than at the control hospital. Furthermore, implementation of the r
etrospective peer-review system at one study hospital demonstrated no
effect on RBC utilization.Conclusions.-We conclude that the retrospect
ive peer-review systems implemented at these four hospitals had no eff
ect on reducing red blood cell utilization.