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Not sure about the vitals but be aware that we have not been able to get Meditech to recognize that 2 units can hold the same unit number even though they have seperate ISBT product code numbers. You might want to consider this.

Wondering about your interpretation of the regulatroy requirements governing performance of QC on apheresis products. Do you interpret the standard to mean QC is to be performed per instrument or per instrument type (e.g.- Trima, Alyx, Haemonetics, etc.)? Please let me know what you think. Thanks.

We are having difficulty handling directed units. Donor Services, processing and distribution are on the LifeTrak system. Transfusion is on Cerner Millenium. When we transfer a directed unit to our transfusion service and the ABO/Rh is not compatible with the intended recipient the unit is rejected. The problem lies with the inability of the unit to go back to distribution (LifeTrak) and be relabeled as a regular allogeneic product. LifeTrak has no efficient way of relabelling these products. ISBT 128 directed product codes contain a "D". This indicates that the unit is directed. Cerner will not bring the unit in as a regular allogeneic product unless it is relabeled. Is anyone else encountering this issue? How are you dealing with it? If you're on another system and are ISBT 128 compliant, are you experiencing this problem? Thanks for any input.

We have implemented MTP at our facility and have had some that were of questionable utility. It seems that some of the MTP's were called simply because the department did not want to send someone to courier the products and since our protocol requires that the lab deliver the products they have taken advantage of the protocol. Since then, because of waste, our Utilization Review committee has begun reviewing all MTP's although I believe the review to be somewhat cursory in nature.

I supervise a hospital based blood bank in Louisiana. We accept directed units. We do not charge for this service because most of the units end up in our general inventory. Also, by ABO/Rh typing the donors as they present you can convert even those incompatible donors to replacement donors (blood goes to inventory; 15$ credit goes to patient's take home portion of bill). A doctor's order is not required because directed donors are still volunteer donors; however, you might want to check your transfusion SOP to see if a doctor's order is needed for the transfusion of directed units. Some doctors prefer not to transfuse directed units.