Use of simulation in support of analysis and improvement of blood collection process

Abstract

This paper deals with efforts aiming to improve processes associated with the blood specimen order and collection process in one of the Canada's largest and most diverse health care facilities. The analytical specimen testing is defined to have five sub-systems that synergize to execute the order, collection, transportation, analysis and result reporting of blood-based analytic laboratory tests. In the project current processes were defined in accordance to the standard operating procedures and other hospitals techniques and benchmarked to other known blood collection and analysis systems. The recommendations and implementation strategy to address the challenges associated with the errors and delays in the blood collection system in the emergency department at Sunnybrook were developed and prioritized using an analytical hierarchy process.