Updating the guidelines for RFID in transfusion medicine

Advantages of RFID

Printed barcodes remain the most widely used AIDC system to identify units in blood processing systems. Manual and barcode systems require user action to record or scan units and only provide a snapshot of the units in storage at the time the units are being handled or scanned. In contrast RFID can provide a continuous record of unit location information and temperature providing a guaranteed record of compliance for complete End to End traceability—from donation to transfusion with a full audit trail, cold chain record-keeping and compliance knowing the real time location of each blood unit in storage and movements into and out of storage from the point of donation right up to transfusion into the patient. RFID can support the quick and easy access to process data generated in the blood supply chain, including collection, manufacturing, testing, release labelling, inventory, and distribution. With the appropriate software, inventory checks can be performed remotely and without attending the storage location for a full picture in seconds from the administrator’s desk, for real End to End visibility from donation to transfusion. During the distribution process, bulk packaging could be checked for completeness on dispatch and receipt using tunnel readers allowing the transmission of shipment information to be done rapidly using the RFID label with no need for line-of-sight for scanning, which makes it easy for employees to perform concurrent manual activities. Hospitals may provide the greatest and most immediate benefits from RFID in transfusion medicine. Implementing RFID at hospitals with RFID fitted fridges, freezers and agitators or incubators has the potential to deliver processing time savings for staff and cold chain compliance through automated enforcement of handling procedures and rules, reducing wastage through real time visibility and an electronic audit record of all movements. The guarantee that all units have been correctly stored and handled can allow for units to be safely moved between hospitals to enable distributed blood, plasma and platelet banking on a city, state, or country wide basis. Studies have shown that moving blood between hospitals can eliminate expiry wastage by matching blood units to the local patient demand across a group of hospitals. By integrating RFID into other transfusion equipment there is the possibility to further improve processes. For example, at the point of collection, an RFID reader integrated into the blood collector could record the donation timing and record the weight of a blood donation. Similarly integrating an RFID reader into a transfusion stand would record the instant the transfusion starts and stops and track the correct placement and administration of a unit of blood at the point of transfusion. RFID enabled devices can remove the reliance on operators taking specific activities and records to provide real time visibility of operations.