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Auditing in transfusion medicine: Approaches to optimizing transfusion practice

  • Chapter
Book cover Trigger Factors in Transfusion Medicine

Part of the book series: Developments in Hematology and Immunology ((DIHI,volume 31))

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Abstract

Since approximately 20 million blood components are transfused each year in the United States alone and since transfusion therapy is not without risks, there have been increasing efforts made to evaluate how blood components are utilized with a view toward improving practice. The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has been the group primarily driving this effort from the hospital perspective and the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) the group promoting this effort from the laboratory perspective. The overall purpose of these initiatives is to achieve continuous improvement in transfusion practices rather than to identify and punish individual physicians. This paper will review the historical perspectives and the current role of the JCAHO and the AABB in this process, the existing practice guidelines, the results of transfusion practice audits as well as several strategies which have been implemented to improve practice.

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Authors
  1. C. H. Wallas
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Red Cross Blood Bank Noord-Nederland, The Netherlands

    C. Th. Smit Sibinga  & P. C. Das  & 

  2. Yale New Haven Hospital Blood Bank, New Haven, CT, USA

    E. L. Snyder (chairmain) (chairmain)

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© 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Wallas, C.H. (1996). Auditing in transfusion medicine: Approaches to optimizing transfusion practice. In: Sibinga, C.T.S., Das, P.C., Snyder, E.L. (eds) Trigger Factors in Transfusion Medicine. Developments in Hematology and Immunology, vol 31. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1287-1_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1287-1_19

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8550-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-1287-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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