TRANSFUSION MEDICINE: blood transfusion safety with AT-Biotech RFID solutions

TRANSFUSION MEDICINE: blood transfusion safety with AT-Biotech RFID solutions

For patient safety and peace of mind of the healthcare professional, the use of RFID technology in blood banks and leading hospitals in Spain is consolidated. AT-Biotech solutions with smart tags improve blood components’ control and traceability, strengthening blood transfusion safety with RFID solutions.

Does it increase transfusion safety with RFID solutions?

The biggest challenges faced by blood banks and blood transfusion units in hospitals are patient safety and increasing the quality of their operations as much as possible.
We understand safety and quality as the result of the application of processes, practices, knowledge, specialised personnel, tools and technology. All those elements combined, and subject to an audit process and continuous improvement, results in a minimisation of transfusion incidents, and the early detection of near-miss events.
AT-Biotech’s transfusion security solution combines the use of software with physical elements such as PDAs, smart tags, and RFID beacons. In this way, blood banks and hospitals improve their operations safely, consistently and in harmony with their processes and quality standards.

Why does AT-Biotech lead the solutions to these challenges?

AT-Biotech’s professionals are specialists in the control of biological and pharmacological products. They recently have celebrated five years since the implementation of their solutions in Catalonia. In addition, they too have expanded their network, implementing those solutions in the Balearic Islands, Cantabria and the Basque Country.
AT-Biotech is a mature and experienced technology company that provides traceability solutions for blood banks and hospital transfusion units since 2014. Its solutions are being used by the Banc de Sang i Teixits de Catalunya, Banc de Sang i Teixits de les Balears and the blood and tissue banks of Cantabria and Basque Country.
AT-Biotech is a company selected for Horizon 2020 R&D programs in the European Union and has collaborated in the past with the IDEA Agency of Andalusia, as well as with the International Society of Blood Transfusion.

How to safeguard the control of blood components?

For AT-Biotech engineers «The fundamental thing is to design solutions, not products, that harmonize the use of technology with the work done by healthcare professionals». AT-Biotech solutions provide safety and redundancy mechanisms complementary to the bank and hospital operations.
For example, many hospitals use computer applications to manage blood transfusions ie: what type of component the doctor prescribes, what quantity, according to what pathology, who the patient is, what type of blood, etc. However, such applications don’t ensure that a patient’s blood sample is extracted at the bedside, nor do they prevent an unirradiated blood bag from being transfused to anyone who requires an irradiated bag. These computer applications don’t ensure either that a blood bag that has not been transfused is discarded because it is not known what temperature it has been at and for how long.
Transfusion safety with RFID solutions from AT-Biotech Rhesus Blood (traceability) and Frigea Blood (cold chain custody) are seamlessly integrated into the existing computer applications from blood banks and hospitals thus increasing the safety and quality of care patients receive.

Rhesus Blood

Rhesus Blood is a solution for the control of blood and blood components intended for human use. Created for blood component production centres, donation units and haematology and haemotherapy units. Within the solution has RFID tags developed and manufactured by Trace-ID.

Rhesus Blood Solution Benefits

1. Reducing errors in the administration of blood components
2. Enforcement of procedures and protocols
3. Compliance with GMP and ISO 9001 standards
4. Decreased handling times
5. Reliable verification of the identity of the drives and their recipient
6. Visual and audible alerts. Comfort and trust for staff
7. Automatic haemovigilance records

Frigea Blood

Frigea Blood is a solution that controls the cold chain of blood components before transfusion or storage.

Benefits of Frigea Blood solution

1. Individual cold chain monitoring by bag
2. Centralised control
3. Minimising bag discards

The benefits of technology based on smart labels for transfusion safety

The use of RFID tags as part of AT-Biotech solutions allows our software platform to automatically record the processes carried out by healthcare personnel in the transfusion activity. It allows the interaction and triangulation of blood components between patient, nurse and the software platform that controls such processes.

The key moment is now

In the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic, both the Government of Spain, as well as entities such as the CDTI (Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial) or AMETIC (Asociación Multisectorial de Empresas Españolas de Electrónica y Comunicaciones) have emphasized that the digitization of the Healthcare sector in the coming years is of key importance. That is why they are creating projects to ensure this objective.
The implementation of AT-Biotech RFID and software solutions is an opportunity for improved safety and quality for those blood banks and hospitals that still use barcode technology combined with handwriting on extract sample labels, forms, patient bracelets, and blood bag labels.
AT-Biotech offers advice and tools for the implementation of this new technology to blood banks and hospitals.

AT-Biotech is backed by Trace-ID

At Trace-ID we congratulate ourselves for having strategic partners of the quality of AT-Biotech, for its part, in the words of its CEO, Mrs. Aida Agea:
“Trace-ID offers us commitment to supply labels and electronic equipment and visibility into delivery times. Trace-ID is a strategic supplier that helps us innovate our products and services. The quality of RFID products in the health sector is fundamental because errors have consequences on people’s health and on the medical and nursing work.»

All these innovations and technologies end up improving everyone’s lives, and we will continue to join forces to continue moving towards this goal.