I thought I posted this last night but don't see it now. Pardon if it is somewhere else.

How long is it taking to get ready for ISBT on Meditech? I had assumed we would just reset a few things and load the new product codes, but now that I have been live on MT for a few months I doubt that it will be that straightforward. Can someone tell me how much time I need to tell my boss to allot for me for the MT part of the ISBT conversion?

We may get lucky and have this process be just that easy, but I'm leaving that up to the technical wizards in our IT department.

We haven't done a whole lot as far as actual work, but there are some preliminary steps to take. First, I registered the facility with ICCBBA to get a facility ID number. Then we coordinated with our IT dept that will be handling most of the conversion and arranged the purchase of everything needed, including barcode readers, etc. We are on version 5.5 of Meditech and I have been assured that the software is ISBT128 compatible (we'll see about that when testing starts). I've had a meeting with our local American Red Cross rep. and he seems to think we're right in line to be ready for the Nov. 1st deadline. I also received a CD from the Red Cross with the updated ISBT128 translation tables and product codes we will be using. I'm letting our computer people handle things until we're ready to parallel test in June.

Overall, I'd say you'll need about 3-4 months to get everyone in line. It took ICCBBA almost two months to get us our facility ID number, and the budgetary approval from administration took awhile as well. But I started getting organized in Nov of 2006, so I had a head start.

The 3-4 months is just a guess as maybe your facility is more efficient at letting go of the purse strings than mine is. But be sure your computer people have asked administration for the equipment needed and have been approved to buy it. Then register with ICCBBA, get your facility ID number, and go from there. You may also want to address the issue through your transfusion committee and get an idea of who will be affected with the changes. Have fun!:cool:

You need to alot time for validating your ISBT 128 implementation. That should certainly be a included in project planning.