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Timothy Hannon, MD, MBA
David Sommers, MD, JD

Susan Bennett, DN, MSN, CC
Lisa Brandt, MA, BS, RDH
Liz Carlson
Robert Cochrane
Denise Hannon, RN
Dominic Lizama
Leah Sheforgen
Joseph Thomas, RN, BSN
Michael Tharpe, VCP, ITIL
Mila Walker, MSN, RN, BC
Samantha Watson

Amelia Baffa, RN
Bonnie Tuttle RN, BSN, CPHQ

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NEWS ALERT!

Joint Commission seeks 50 volunteer hospitals to participate as test sites for
Blood Management Performance Measures Project

Transfusion of blood products is a frequent and expensive event. In 2004, twenty-nine million blood components were transfused in the United States, and that number is increasing annually. There are growing concerns, based upon current scientific literature, that blood products are associated with numerous complications, including increased rates of hospital-acquired infections, lung injury, and fluid overload. Transfusions are also associated with increased length of stay and poorer clinical outcomes.  Particularly alarming is the fact that many of these products are transfused without regard to evidence-based practices by physicians who receive little training in transfusion therapy. Therefore, unnecessary transfusions make little sense in view of the potential harm, and they should be avoided.  In spite of these concerns, there has been little focus on better blood utilization on a national level to this point. 

To address this gap, the Joint Commission has promulgated blood management performance measures designed to create a nationwide approach to maximize patient care and transfusion safety. These measures will be used to standardize the way in which blood utilization and blood management are assessed in the hospital setting.  The Joint Commission is currently seeking hospitals to act as alpha test sites to evaluate the measures. Strategic Healthcare Group LLC, as the leading provider of blood management consulting and informatics solutions, strongly supports the Joint Commission in this endeavor, and we encourage our client hospitals to become involved in this project.

SUBMISSION DUE: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2009
Sign up TODAY! (only 50 hospitals will be accepted)


Alpha Testing Requirements

Alpha testing requires a review of the DRAFT specifications for the ten candidate measures (see below) with submission of a Likert scale evaluation and comments. No abstraction is required.


Objectives

• Assess each measure numerator, denominator, inclusion/exclusion statements for clarity
• Assess data element definitions for clarity/standardization
• Determine availability of each data element related to:
  • Feasibility/barriers
  • Data sources
    
    
    

DRAFT Blood Management Measures* for Alpha Testing

Transfusion Indication
Transfusion Consent
Blood Administration Documentation
Evaluation Between Multiple Red Blood Cell Transfusions
Timely Emergency Transfusions
Red Blood Cell Administration
Prophylactic Platelet Administration
Plasma Administration
Preoperative Testing
Pre-transfusion Specimen Rejections

* Eight of the measure populations would be determined based on medical record documentation of transfusion ICD-9-CM procedure codes (e.g., 99.02, 99.04, etc.)

Initial application to participate requires the following information

• Provide general information about your Healthcare Organization?
  (Name, City, State, Zip, Contact Person, E-mail, Phone)
  
  
• Describe the type of hospital you are responding for?
  (Teaching, Non-teaching, Critical Access Hospital)
  
  
• Is your hospital designated as Urban or Rural?
  
  
• How many licensed beds in your hospital?
  (0-99 beds, 100 - 199 beds, 200 - 299 beds or 300+ beds)
  
  
• Submit the types of blood products administered in your hospital.
  (Packed red blood cells, Perioperative autologous cell salvage, Preoperative autologous donation, Platelets, Plasma)
  
  
• In the medical record, how does your hospital code or document blood transfusions?
  (Procedure codes, Revenue codes, Do not use codes to document blood transfusion(s), Other)
  
  
• Does your hospital perform elective cardiac or orthopedic surgeries?
  
  
• If your facility participates in the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Analytics Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Adoption ModelSM (EMRAM) project, what is your electronic health record (EHR) adoption stage?
  (Did not participate, Do not know our Stage, Stage 0-7)
  
  
• Does your facility use EHR software to capture information concerning blood transfusions?
  (Yes or No)
  
  
• Does your EHR vendor use SNOMED-CT® (Systemized Nomenclature of Medicine--Clinical Terms) within their software (either in the user interface or behind the scenes)?
  (Yes, No, Do not know)
  
  
• Does your EHR vendor use LOINC (Logical Observations Identifiers, Names, Codes) for laboratory test results within their software (either in the user interface or behind the scenes)?
  (Yes, No, Do not know)

SUBMISSION DUE: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2009
Sign up TODAY! (only 50 hospitals will be accepted)

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