So. I am the supervisor of a Level I Trauma center in a large city and it is a teaching hospital. We are having some issues with completing documentation of our MTP protocol (which is a manual process) by the bench techs. We use the HCLL system and it is interfaced with the Cerner system for ordering. I desperately want to get away from the manual process and move to a computer process.

Other supervisors have been here for many years and are reluctant to change. The system is currently cumbersome and time consuming and doesn't always capture all the information needed because we are so busy in the blood bank. We do mostly electronic crossmatching, but the emergency module requires an IS crossmatch after entering the information.

Also, we had a problem with the module creating a registration for the patient that then crossed into Cerner and caused problems for the other labs.

What do other people do? Does everyone use a manual process for their emergency release and MTPs? The other hospitals I have been at just haven't had the volume for this to be an issue.

Any suggestions would be gladly appreciated.

Thank you,

Jen

We use HCLL and made the decision to not use "Emergency Issue (EI)" during the actual emergency. We use paper to issue the units and then after the emergency is over we use EI to perform the documentation in HCLL. We felt that it was too easy to make a mistake in EI during the emergency that would lock up the units in the nether void. We are a Level 2 trauma center, but our actual bleeding trauma numbers are low.

We are pretty strict on using HCLL's emergeny crossmatch and registration functions.  Once you get used to it, you will see that writing everything on paper is too cumbersome by comparison.  We did have a learning curve however, helped by a simulation program set up using the training side of HCLL.

 

Not sure about the interfacing problems with Cerner though, as we use a different registration system.  Suggest you call Mediware for some advice.

 

Scott

We use a manual process with designated O Negs that have the paperwork 90% pre-completed so the blood can be out the door rapidly (usually less than 5 minutes from initial phone call).   We then use the paper to EI the blood in HCLL.   The EI in HCLL took too long for our traumas.