Mediware's BloodSafe™ to Save Time and Money for All Children's Hospital
St. Petersburg, Fla. based All Children’s acquires BloodSafe refrigerators to improve blood safety and efficiency through remote release and electronic crossmatch.
LENEXA, KS June 1, 2009 - Mediware Information Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: MEDW) announced today that All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla. is the latest hospital to adopt BloodSafe™. BloodSafe is Mediware’s remote release blood system that includes secure ‘vending machine’ style refrigerators and optional handheld units to verify patient and transfusion information. BloodSafe is fully integrated with Mediware’s HCLL Transfusion system in the blood bank and will enable All Children’s to track blood usage throughout the hospital, increase blood safety and improve staff efficiencies.
All Children’s Hospital has purchased three of the large 150-unit BloodSafe HemoSafe® refrigerators to improve accessibility of blood in the hospital’s new facility which will open later this year. The BloodSafe units will be placed in high need areas including the Cardiovascular ICU, Cardiovascular OR and the General OR areas and will enable the blood bank to securely store blood in remote locations, monitor and control access to blood products, and improve the speed and accessibility of blood for clinicians.
“Our new hospital is much larger than our current facility,” said Becky DeCroteau, All Children’s Director of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. “Placing BloodSafe in high use areas will significantly improve the speed in which blood is available to patients as well as increase the efficiency of our blood bank staff.”
In traditional hospital environments it may take as long as an hour to have individual blood orders delivered. Using BloodSafe the blood bank staff fills the unit then monitors the inventory remotely. Once loaded, clinicians on the floor can quickly withdraw the units as needed, increasing the response time and reducing the chance of spoilage and waste.
“Today it takes us an hour to test, prepare and distribute a blood order,” said DeCroteau. “As small as our patients are, their needs are great. The blood bank wants to take an active role in ensuring the safest transfusion possible and, at the same time, have blood available quickly when the patient needs it. BloodSafe will help us to do this and, reduce the time required to obtain and administer blood.”
At the same time, safety controls are a top priority. Since blood is regulated by the FDA, hospital blood banks have to document every aspect of the blood, including how it was stored, who handled the products and where each unit of blood ended up. Further, studies such as the Serious Hazards of Transfusion (SHOT) have shown that 3 of 4 transfusion errors result from activities outside the four walls of the blood bank, most of which include patient misidentification where the wrong patient gets the wrong blood.
“We are always dedicated to quality and safety in our blood blank processes,” said Dee McMichael, All Children’s blood bank supervisor. “BloodSafe will help us maintain quality processes throughout the hospital. The system will monitor and control access to our blood supplies, document who takes blood and for whom, and automatically quarantine blood when we suspect there may be a problem. The opportunity for error is reduced and the new system will help us ensure the right patient gets the right blood.”
One of Mediware’s newest products, BloodSafe provides powerful safety and efficiency benefits for both hospitals and blood suppliers. While it can be deployed as a stand alone system, BloodSafe is fully integrated with Mediware’s HCLL Transfusion product to create a new level of blood management capabilities. HCLL Transfusion is in use in more than 350 of the most prestigious hospitals.
“BloodSafe is an example of our investing in new thinking and new solutions for clinical blood management,” said Thomas Mann, Mediware’s president and chief executive officer. “Combined with our powerful transfusion management system in the blood bank, hospitals have a new level of blood management control that actually improves efficiency and safety while reducing costs. I’m pleased that our investment in this solution is bearing fruit and look forward to announcing many more new customers.”
While there are multiple refrigerator options with BloodSafe, the HemoSafe units purchased by All Children’s include an onboard computer and barcode scanner to ensure that the right blood is loaded and removed from the machine. The HemoSafe stores 150 individual units in a temperature controlled and monitored environment that has been 510(k) cleared by the FDA.
For more information about BloodSafe, visit the remote blood storage solution section of the Mediware website.
About All Children’s
All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg is the only specialty licensed children’s hospital on Florida’s west coast. Founded in 1926, All Children’s has grown into a leading pediatric referral center that is dedicated to advancing treatment, education, research and advocacy in child health. In December 2009 All Children’s will move into a new 259-bed hospital and adjoining Outpatient Care Center. Click to read more from the All Children’s Hospital website.
About Mediware
Mediware delivers ClosedLoop™ blood and medication management software systems that encapsulate information supporting patient therapies, reinforce patient safety practices and improve efficiencies to lower costs. Mediware’s customers include prestigious hospitals, clinics, correctional institutions, blood centers and other public and private health care institutions throughout the world. For more information about Mediware products and services, visit our web site.
About BloodSafe™
Originally developed as BloodTrack by Canadian-based Neoteric Technology Ltd., BloodSafe is marketed by Mediware under a distribution agreement. BloodSafe includes a 510(k) cleared interface with Mediware’s HCLL Transfusion management software.
