Abstract
This work provides an overview and appraisal of the general evolution of IS/IT in haemovigilance, from which lessons can be learned for its future strategic management. An electronic survey was conducted among the members of the International Haemovigilance Network to compile information on the mechanisms implemented to gather, process, validate, and store these data, to monitor haemovigilance activity, and to produce analytical reports. Survey responses were analysed by means of descriptive statistics, and comments/observations were considered in the final discussion. The answers received from 23 haemovigilance organizations show a direct relationship between the number of collected notifications (i.e., communication of adverse effects and events) and the technical specifications of the haemovigilance system in use. Notably, IT is used in the notification reception of 17 of these systems, out of which 8 systems are exclusively based on Web solutions. Most assessments of the evolution of IS/IT tend to focus on the scalability and flexibility of data gathering and reporting, considering the ever-changing requirements of haemovigilance. Data validation is poorly implemented, and data reporting has not reached its full potential. Web-based solutions are seen as the most intuitive and flexible for a system-user interaction.
Highlights
The transfusion of blood and blood components is a critical procedure to consider when delivering healthcare services to patients
We notice the existence of countries with less than 10 million habitants where their haemovigilance system receives more than 500 notifications per year, while others with more than twice the population receive half of these notifications
These statistics could be the subject of further study, trying to correlate the number of notifications with the transfusion chain activity, the gross domestic product spent on health, the rate of population, and the number and type of professionals working in the transfusion area, among others
Summary
The transfusion of blood and blood components is a critical procedure to consider when delivering healthcare services to patients. Haemovigilance aims to improve the safety of the blood supply by monitoring the entire value chain and contravening possible threats to the safety of transfusion recipients [1,2,3], with the recommendation of adequate corrective actions [4]. Haemovigilance information systems are required to give support to the monitoring of the safety of the blood supply to the organizations that provide or use blood products for patient treatment. Innovative efforts are mainly focused on improving the quality of the overall process responsible for the safe administration of blood components to patients [6]. The implementation of labelling standards, such as the ISBT128, has enabled the unambiguous and language-independent identification of blood component units worldwide
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