Does anyone out there use the cell panel in meditech to assist with antibody identification??? I am interested in both positive and negative remarks.

It would be a lot of work to set up and maintain for a very low return. After you enter the reactions it would list all possible antibodies and you still must do the rule in/outs.

I would only consider using if there is a way to scan all of that information into the computer. Way too tedious for the return.

Thank you for your response. I am not too much concerned about it being a lot of work, it only took me 10 minutes to enter in my current panel. And yes, it gives you a list of possible antibodies to rule in/out. However, I beleive in the "use of all available systems/tools" and thought this would be a neat tool to aid in antibody identification. I don't think it was ever intended to be more than a tool in our arsenal. Once again, thanks, as I said, I am interested in all responses, good and bad.

We were putting in our donor cells until the last update. Meditech has removed that part of the dictionary.

We were putting in our donor cells until the last update. Meditech has removed that part of the dictionary.

Us too .... staff feel this is going backwards ,my concern is years of missing information! Caught us totally off guard - who'd think a computer system wouldn't want to help you retain all patient records!

How are you moving forward?

How do you plan to explain missing patient records if asked (I realize there's debate on how long this type of record is to be retained)?

I would be concerned that someone would make a transcription error when typing in the panel. I hope they all get to be scannable one day.

If you really want a tool to support staff or help teach tech how to do rule outs, you'd be better off using Antigen Plus from Rowny Systems. It's exclusion rules are based on the AABB tech Manual or the company can make you a customized version. Rowny has set it up so you get all you panels electronically so saves time and helps prenvent errors. It has warning built in to get the tech's attention when something doesn't meet standards. You still need to know what you're doing and control is always in your hands.

Just my opinion!

Pony

Does anyone out there use the cell panel in meditech to assist with antibody identification??? I am interested in both positive and negative remarks.

I do use Meditech, but do not use meditech to determine my antibodies. The user has to input the reactions from the antigram for each cell, so if in the past anyone has just put a number in so that they may build their panels, meditech will look at the donor antigram that you have input if it matches there you have it, but like I say if there is a wrong value for the donor, well you can only get out what is put in.

This last update we did is at the point where they are consolidating Magic and Client Server and the Humana versions. It was a very big step backwards. We used to be able to order, crossmatch, re-print Xmatch cards or issue slips, chart copies and issue from the same screen. Now it's several screens. When I complained to Meditech I was told that they looked at the users of it & took it out due to volume of users. I responded that you wouldn't be using it if you sent your workups to a reference lab which a lot of labs do. They said they would consider putting it back in. We did not use the caliculation function as we do both a treated & untreated panel on our workups. I was nice to be able to print out previous panels when you suspected a new antibody.

I was hired a several months ago to replace the blood bank supervisor. I had to learn the policies of this lab and meditech, pretty much on my own. From what it sounds, we haven't been updated in quite awhile. However, I cannot be sure since I am so new to meditech. If this is what I have to look forward to in a new update, I will definitely have my hands full.