An evolution in blood management: past, present, and future
Ajay Kumar1, Priscilla I Figueroa, Kate L Gowans
1Division of Hospital Medicine, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT 06102, USA. drajaykumar@gmail.com
Abstract:
Blood management is a concept that adopts a principle of improving patient outcome by integrating all available techniques to ensure safety, availability, and appropriate allocation of blood products. This constitutes a model of multidisciplinary care where the changes in culture are system directed on the basis of evidence-based medicine. There are about 14% US hospitals where any kind of blood management program exists, although the idea remains the same but the programs vary in their execution, implementation, and ultimately providing the value to patients. In this article, we have described our experience of creating a patient-centric, cost-effective, evidence-based, and multipronged program creation with scalable results. The use of data, education, process improvement, engagement, and accountability of caregivers have resulted in sustained results and helped in creating a comprehensive blood management program.
Related Concept Videos
Blood Transfusion and Agglutination
History
The history of blood transfusion dates back to the 17th century, when early attempts were made in animals. In 1818 James Blundell, a British doctor, performed the first successful human blood transfusion. Later in 1900, Karl...
Blood Transfusion
Blood Transfusion Overview
A blood transfusion is a medical procedure used to replace blood lost due to injury, surgery, or to treat conditions such as anemia or cancer. During a transfusion, donor blood is...
Characteristics and Functions of Blood
The primary function of blood is to transport oxygen and carbon dioxide between tissues and the lungs. Oxygenated blood is bright red, while oxygen-depleted blood is darker. It also carries...
Bone Marrow Sampling and Transplants
The transplant begins with high doses of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, which aim to destroy the...
Issues And Trends In Healthcare Delivery System
Cost Containment
Payment for healthcare services has historically promoted adoption of costly and often unnecessary or inefficient...
Blood Typing
Antigens are protein molecules that reside on the surface of red blood cells (RBCs). The ABO and Rh blood typing systems target antigens A,...
