Evaluation and conflict in measures of performance for blood banking

The policy statements regarding national blood banking goals as established by the American Blood Commission do not identify precise measures of performance. A survey was conducted to identify the most important measures of performance used in blood banking. Three groups: physicians, blood bank administrators and nurses were used. Results indicate that about twenty measures are currently being used in the industry. With respect to the relative importance of the measures of performance, there is strong agreement between physicians and nurses but little agreement between nurses/physicians and administrators. The survey also established that the value of outdating various types of blood is negatively correlated with the relative frequency distribution of blood in the general population.