Tracking blood products in hospitals using radio frequency identification: Lessons from a pilot implementation

Design, Development, and Evaluation of the Blood Collection Management Workstation

Purpose

To design and develop a blood collection management workstation with high usability to reduce the risk of preanalytical errors and improve patient safety.

Methods

A five-phase mobile application development lifecycle model (MADLC) and experience-based co-design (EBCD) were used for design and development. Subsequently, the blood collection management workstation was evaluated using the Chinese System Usability Scale (SUS) in a general ward setting from January to June 2021.

Results

It was used on 2593 in-patients who underwent phlebotomy with 12,378 tubes being labeled. The rate of errors and meantime for blood sampling were decreased compared with the same period in the previous year. A total of 14 nurses agreed to participate in the evaluation, and the overall raw SUS score was 69.26 ± 10.39, which indicated above average results.

Conclusion

The blood collection management workstation has shown the potential to decrease errors and improve working efficiency in a clinical setting. The study also identified some weaknesses, which will be amended in the future.

Transfusion Medicine Informatics: A Review of Current Practice and a Glimpse into the Future

Clinical informatics has been described as the "relentless pursuit of assisting people" by using data and information technology to improve health care. A core principle is that a person supported by information technology is superior to either a person or machine alone. Striving toward this harmonization, the transfusion medicine field has had a significant number of accomplishments. Clinical informatics interventions have helped achieve better quality, efficiency, and safety in nearly all aspects of transfusion medicine. This review summarizes these accomplishments and provides a preview of novel ideas that could transform transfusion medicine into a proactive, data-driven, and patient-centered discipline.

Radio-Frequency Identification Specimen Tracking to Improve Quality in Anatomic Pathology

CONTEXT.—

Preanalytic errors, including specimen labeling errors and specimen loss, occur frequently during specimen collection, transit, and accessioning. Radio-frequency identification tags can decrease specimen identification and tracking errors through continuous and automated tracking of specimens.

OBJECTIVE.—

To implement a specimen tracking infrastructure to reduce preanalytic errors (specimen mislabeling or loss) between specimen collection and laboratory accessioning. Specific goals were to decrease preanalytic errors by at least 70% and to simultaneously decrease employee effort dedicated to resolving preanalytic errors or investigating lost specimens.

DESIGN.—

A radio-frequency identification specimen-tracking system was developed. Major features included integral radio-frequency identification labels (radio-frequency identification tags and traditional bar codes in a single printed label) printed by point-of-care printers in collection suites; dispersed radio-frequency identification readers at major transit points; and systems integration of the electronic health record, laboratory information system, and radio-frequency identification tracking system to allow for computerized physician order entry driven label generation, specimen transit time tracking, interval-based alarms, and automated accessioning.

RESULTS.—

In the 6-month postimplementation period, 6 mislabeling events occurred in collection areas using the radio-frequency identification system, compared with 24 events in the 6-month preimplementation period (75% decrease; P = .001). In addition, the system led to the timely recovery of 3 lost specimens. Labeling expenses were decreased substantially in the transition from high-frequency to ultrahigh frequency radio-frequency identification tags.

CONCLUSIONS.—

Radio-frequency identification specimen tracking prevented several potential specimen-loss events, decreased specimen recovery time, and decreased specimen labeling errors. Increases in labeling/tracking expenses for the system were more than offset by time savings and loss avoidance through error mitigation.

The Effectiveness of Near-Field Communication Integrated with a Mobile Electronic Medical Record System: Emergency Department Simulation Study

Background

Improved medical practice efficiency has been demonstrated by physicians using mobile device (mobile phones, tablets) electronic medical record (EMR) systems. However, the quantitative effects of these systems have not been adequately measured.

Objective

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of near-field communication (NFC) integrated with a mobile EMR system regarding physician turnaround time in a hospital emergency department (ED).

Methods

A simulation study was performed in a hospital ED. Twenty-five physicians working in the ED participated in 2 scenarios, using either a mobile device or personal computer (PC). Scenario A involved randomly locating designated patients in the ED. Scenario B consisted of accessing laboratory results of an ED patient at the bedside. After completing the scenarios, participants responded to 10 questions that were scored using a system usability scale (SUS). The primary metric was the turnaround time for each scenario. The secondary metric was the usability of the system, graded by the study participants.

Results

Locating patients from the ED entrance took a mean of 93.0 seconds (SD 34.4) using the mobile scenario. In contrast, it only required a mean of 57.3 seconds (SD 10.5) using the PC scenario (P<.001). Searching for laboratory results of the patients at the bedside required a mean of only 25.2 seconds (SD 5.3) with the mobile scenario, and a mean of 61.5 seconds (SD 11.6) using the PC scenario (P<.001). Sensitivity analysis comparing only the time for login and accessing the relevant information also determined mobile devices to be significantly faster. The mean SUS score of NFC-mobile EMR was 71.90 points.

Conclusions

NFC integrated with mobile EMR provided for a more efficient physician practice with good usability.