The incorporation of Radio Frequency Identification Technology in health institutions and the determining aspects of adoption

The process of traceability by radio frequency identification system (RFID) is considered one of the biggest contributions of the last years in the health sector. This article aims to study the academic contributions that this technology has brought to the segment in question and the consequent difficulties resulting from the implementation of this technology in the ambit of hospital and outpatient facilities. To carry out this work, we proceeded to survey and literature review in order to select the research related to the topic of RFID in the context of traceability. The data obtained clearly show that the benefits of this tool are numerous, ranging from drug screening to the correct availability of patient data. Although it is imbued with all these advantages, RFID still represents a visible difficulty of insertion in the hospital environment due to economic and security problems in terms of information privacy. However, this new reality is undeniable and its implementation is increasingly present in the medical environment, being a necessity rather than a technological advance

Life-cycle information management and acquisition for blood products

Ten of thousands patients die every year because of medical errors. Many more patients suffer permanent damage and have to be medicated for the rest of their life. In the context of a blood donation, blood production and blood transfusion process, a lack of consistent and complete trace and tracking of individual blood bags has been identified as a source of medical errors. This research aims to address this challenge to help organisations such as blood banks to track the donation, manufacture, distribution and in-use of blood products, to remove/minimise the potential medical errors. Although the major goal of this research study is to increase patient security, reduction of wastage is also part of the research aims because donated blood is a scarce resource. Nowadays, up to 20% of the blood bags are put to scrap without use and each of the blood bag costs 220 Euro to produce (i.e. from collection, production and storage until it is consumed/discarded). In Austria alone, 5.6 million Euros could be saved each year if the wastage can be removed. Besides the economic issue, donated human blood is a scarce resource and always gives a poor psychological response from the general public when preventable wastage occurs. This research study approaches the challenges through a life-cycle point of view because it sees the goal can only be achieved through ‘real-time’ life-cycle information that governs the quality and life-span of such products. As a result, a new RF based semi-active transponder (13.56 MHz, ISO 15693 compatible HF interface) with integrated data storage and temperature sensor, which is able to sustain high g - forces have been developed to provide the ‘real-time’ temperature data and other related information support. The developed life-cycle information system has been trialled at the University Clinic of Graz not only to test its effectiveness, but also used as a case study for this research study. Due to the resources constraints (e.g. time), the case study does not create sufficient data to establish any statistical significance to quantify the benefits of the proposed systems. However, all the involved persons including both the operational and professional staff at University Clinique of Graz, have agreed the proposed RFID transponders, together with its lifecycle management system provides better decision support to handle individual blood bag at any stage of its lifecycle. They believe the proposed system will improve patients’ safety and reduce the wastage of blood bags. During the trail, it happened that two blood bags ready for transfusion were detected to be below 0°C somehow during their life-cycle. A blood transfusion would have been 100% mortal to the patients. The detection of this fatal mistake did save at least the life of one human being and illustrated the importance of an objective, overarching and complete life-cycle system for blood products. Although this research is focused on blood products for blood banks and medical environments, the benefits of the system approach and methodologies could also apply to other types of sensitive and fragile goods that require life-cycle information support

Human Blood Group Systems and Haemoglobinopathies

The past decade has seen remarkable improvements and advances in the fields of blood transfusion and hematology, particularly with regards to advances in science, technology, method development, quality, standardization, and governance. This book provides more evidenced-based insight into the field of blood transfusion and the management of hemoglobinopathies

Modern Approaches To Quality Control

Rapid advance have been made in the last decade in the quality control procedures and techniques, most of the existing books try to cover specific techniques with all of their details. The aim of this book is to demonstrate quality control processes in a variety of areas, ranging from pharmaceutical and medical fields to construction engineering and data quality. A wide range of techniques and procedures have been covered

IT Tools and Performance Indicators: A Qualitative Overview of Managerial, Organizational, Financial Strategies within Healthcare Sector

open1The work examines the different healthcare contexts in which innovation has been applied, or could be applied, resulting in cost containment and increased quality and efficiency of medical care services. In addition, the different factors influencing the adoption of information technologies in the national healthcare systems of the European Union are discussed, in particular as regards the existence of structural barriers. Innovation is defined as the creation of something still not existing, to be uses for new products and services or for more efficient processes and is therefore linked to change, because innovation requires change. Information technology (IT) is described as the acquisition, processing and storage of data by a computing product. This work qualitatively analyses use cases, which are in turn based on quantitative research methodologies (i.e. performance indicators), commonly based on the manipulation of independent variables to generate statistically analyzable data, which guarantees objectivity and provides greater data reliability. Studies have been conducted to observe current trends in access to information technology across different age groups, to detect the existence of correlations between Internet users and online healthcare information searches. In this work, several Italian initiatives for the diffusion of IT applications in the healthcare sector have been analyzed. Some of the ongoing pilot projects include the collaboration of the Politecnico di Milano, through the establishment of the Laboratory of Biomedical Technologies (TBMLab), and the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa, to carry out research on eHealth activities and to promote the development of home automation systems for patients with disabilities. The HHC-MOTES model should also be noted, which aims to analyze the implementation of IT in the healthcare (HHC) sector from the point of view of sustainability in the management, organizational, technological, environmental and social fields (MOTES).openRemondino, MarcoRemondino, Marc

Annual SHOT Report 2017

SHOT is affiliated to the Royal College of PathologistsTraining in ABO and D blood group principles is essential for all laboratory nd clinical staff with any responsibility for the transfusion process. This should form part of the competency assessments. All available information technology (IT) systems to support transfusion practice should be considered and these systems implemented to their full functionality. Electronic blood management systems should be considered in all clinical settings where transfusion takes place. This is no longer an innovative approach to safe transfusion practice, it is the standard that all should aim for. A formal pre-transfusion risk assessment for transfusion-associated circulatory overload (TACO) should be undertaken whenever possible, as TACO is the most commonly reported cause of transfusionrelated mortality and major morbidity (repeat from last year

Annual SHOT Report 2018

SHOT is affiliated to the Royal College of PathologistsAll NHS organisations must move away from a blame culture towards a just and learning culture. All clinical and laboratory staff should be encouraged to become familiar with human factors and ergonomics concepts. All transfusion decisions must be made after carefully assessing the risks and benefits of transfusion therapy. Collaboration and co-ordination among staff is vital

A collective mindfulness perspective of information sharing in the blood supply chain.

Purpose: This thesis aims to determine and unravel the underlying mechanisms of how inter-organisational information sharing influences blood safety and availability in the dyadic blood supply chain in normal, high tempo, and emergency conditions. Design/methodology/approach: Grounded in the critical realism paradigm and the perspective of high reliability theory particularly the collective mindfulness concept, this thesis uses an embedded multiple case study designed for theory elaboration. A combined retroductive-abductive and the basic qualitative description has been adopted as a research strategy. Two contrasting cases with three embedded cases for each main case are selected using convenient and context-based approaches, representing a centralised and tightly regulated blood supply chain in the UK as well as a decentralised and loosely regulated blood supply chain in Indonesia. The data are collected using the triangulation of semi- structured interviews, walkthroughs, and other supporting documents including artefacts and archives. Template analysis coupled with within-case and cross- case analyses are then used to analyse the data. Findings: This thesis finds that inter-organisational information sharing influences blood safety and availability through the dynamic enactments of collective mindfulness principles that reflect the inter-organisational information sharing behaviour across the operational conditions. It also finds that the blood supply chain actors in the centralised and tightly regulated context are collectively more mindful when sharing information than those in the decentralised and loosely regulated context, so that more positive changes in the blood safety and availability performance are observed in the former compared to that in the latter context. Interestingly, whilst the data reveal an emerging mechanism of heedful interrelating across a range of operational conditions, this thesis also reveals the fact that inter-organisational information sharing does not necessarily lead to positive changes in blood safety and availability. In fact, negatively enacted collective mindfulness principles can lead inter-organisational information sharing to unimproved and even potentially worse blood safety and availability performance. Originality/value: The primary contribution of this thesis lies in understanding the underlying mechanisms of how inter-organisational information sharing influences blood safety and availability in the dyadic blood supply chain across a range of operational conditions. Whilst offering practical and conceptually relevant knowledge to the blood supply chain literature, it informs the wider supply chain literature on the different collective mindfulness principles that make inter- organisational information sharing influence supply chain performance across a range of operational conditions. The use of the collective mindfulness concept offers a novel perspective that extends the current discussion on the effectiveness of that information sharing for supply chains.PhD in Leadership and Managemen