Performance improvement in a hospital transfusion service

Blood bankers have always embraced the concepts of quality exemplified by the American Association of Blood Banks' Standards for Blood Banks and Transfusion Services and its accreditation program. The emergence of a quality management system based on a set of quality system essentials represents a natural evolution of these quality initiatives. When fully implemented, a quality system provides a powerful tool with which to improve the quality of both intralaboratory and, importantly, extralaboratory processes related to transfusion medicine. In addition, a functional quality system enhances a transfusion service's ability to meet current and proposed requirements of the American Association of Blood Banks, the Food and Drug Administration, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards.