A TEAM-APPROACH TO DECREASE WASTED BLOOD PRODUCTS

The evaluation of blood product waste represents a key element of the appropriate use of blood components, a critical control point in the s ystem of blood administration. A multidisciplinary team approach, depe nding on contributions from laboratory personnel may be used to analyz e and reduce the problem of blood product waste. Process improvement s teps include the creation of flowcharts for each step in the process o f blood delivery, case analysis to determine factors that contribute t o waste, and implementation of new procedures and education of hospita l staff to reduce waste. In our analysis, key factors contributing to blood product waste included failure to communicate canceled orders to the transfusion service, failure to return unused blood products to t he transfusion service in a timely manner, miscommunication of request s for blood products, and problems in assessing patients' readiness fo r transfusion. The team took steps to address these problems and subse quently reduced blood product waste.