Improvement of Checklist for Briefing in Apheresis Therapy and Its Efficacy

A checklist is an effective tool for ensuring patient safety. We have already been using a briefing checklist for hemodialysis. However, we did not have ones for apheresis therapy. From the experiences of incidents that occurred in February and March 2024. We decided to create a briefing checklist for apheresis therapy, especially for plasma exchange (PE) and double filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP).

First, we made a briefing checklist specific to apheresis therapies, different from hemodialysis. Another incident occurred 6 months later, revealing that staff used the checklist in a manner different from the intended one. The fact prompted us to revise the apheresis therapy checklist, with items and the order of appearance similar to those of the hemodialysis checklist. We also provided detailed explanations of apheresis therapy for clinical engineers unfamiliar with it. We have not experienced any incident since September 2024, when the revised procedures were implemented, until May 2025.

The briefing checklist provided benefits, including improved patient safety and education for clinical engineers unfamiliar with apheresis. the revision process further improved the checklist's efficiency.