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A computer planning model for blood platelet production and distribution.

We consider a class of policies for stocking hospital blood banks with units of random donor platelet concentrate ('Platelets') based upon scheduled daily deliveries from a regional blood center to replenish the platelet inventory to a fixed 'base stock' level. The measures of interest are the 'shortage rate' (the proportion of days for which the on-hand inventory at the hospital blood bank is insufficient to meet the demand) and the 'outdate rate' (the proportion of total units shipped which are not transfused within the usable life span of 5 days). Our principal results give a predictive model which relates the base stock level to the shortage rate and outdate rate. Our model uses only the mean daily demand as a parameter. It provides a basis to unify the results from other studies which have demonstrated improvements in platelet inventory management in particular hospitals and blood centers.

Blood Banks

Distributing the goods the right way.

Distribution is an integral part of the supply process; a product or supply has little value until it is in the hands of those who can use it. The traditional "reverse distribution process," in which nursing or other departmental personnel go down to central stores to pick up any needed materials, results in a costly, inefficient use of manpower. When choosing a supply system, one of the foremost considerations that a hospital should keep in mind is how the supply or product will be delivered to where it can be used.

Automation

Evaluation of a computer-directed pneumatic-tube system for pneumatic transport of blood specimens.

The results of sending specimens through a computerized pneumatic airtransport system and manually delivering specimens were compared for 15 chemical tests and six hematologic procedures. All specimens were collected from inpatients and outpatients into evacuated glass containers. The specimens traversed a maximum of 829 feet (253 meters) involving 16 bends and eight transfer units at 25 feet/second (7.6 meters/second). Only the activity of lactate dehydrogenase exceeded the precision of the test in pneumatically transported specimens. Ruptured erythrocytes in incompletely filled vacuum tubes were the likely source of the increased lactate dehydrogenase activity. Neither the serum sodium, potassium, chloride, carbon dioxide, total protein, albumin, calcium, glucose, creatinine, total bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate transaminase, acid phosphatase, uric acid, leukocyte count, erythrocyte count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, nor the prothrombin time and partial thromboplastin time were affected by pneumatic transport. It is concluded that the pneumatic system tested provides a safe, efficient method of transporting the blood specimens tested.

Blood Specimen Collection

Evaluation of a soft-handling computerized pneumatic tube specimen delivery system. Effects on analytical results and turnaround time.

A computerized pneumatic tube specimen delivery system with system-wide air cushion soft handling features was evaluated. There were no significant differences in values (largely normal) for components of a standard chemical profile or complete blood count in specimens delivered from the outpatient center or neonatal intensive care unit by pneumatic tube compared to couriers. The pneumatic tube system also did not affect values for pO2, pCO2, and pH over a wide range (pO2, 25 to 438 mmHg) in specimens sent from the operating room during cardiac surgery. The pneumatic tube system decreased the median turnaround time for potassium and hemoglobin results on specimens from the emergency department by 25%. The system evaluated is a rapid, efficient mechanism for sending specimens to the clinical laboratory that produces no significant effects on analytical results and has the ability to decrease turnaround time.

Blood Cell Count