Out-of-hospital transfusion

Although issues regarding the provision of transfusions in nonhospital settings are still unresolved, there is now a considerable body of experience with such transfusions and a growing consensus that there are acceptable ways to make the service available to carefully selected patients. Besides the core of published information on the subject, there is ongoing interest and a comparison of experiences occurring at meetings such as those of the AABB and state organizations such as the California Blood Bank Society. These formal and informal exchanges of information by blood centers, hospitals, and outpatient facilities continue to improve the quality achieved by those just embarking on out-of-hospital transfusion programs and those already experienced in this approach. The ultimate beneficiaries of all this shared quality improvement are those patients for whom high-quality out-of-hospital transfusion is not only appropriate but even preferable to inpatient care.