Author/Editor		Rožman, Primož
Title		The impact of telemedicine on the organisation of blood transfusion service
Type		članek
Vol. and No.		Letnik 52, št. 2-3
Publication year		2006
Volume		str. 22-6
Language		eng
Abstract		The communication between the hospital laboratory and the reference immunohaematology laboratory is of crucial importance for good blood transfusion practice. In the case of Slovenia, 11 transfusion suppliers supply the hospital wards with the blood products and pre-transfusion testing, including the cross matching. For the assurance of a 24-hour service, 11 permanent on-duty specialists are therefore needed. By using teleconsultation, rationalization of personnel and substantial increase of blood safety could be achieved. Therefore, the existing transfusion information system DATEC is being upgraded with a teleconsultation system enabling the exchange of information based on an online audio-visual communication. The system allows the access to all transfusion, donor and patient - related data with remote interpretation of laboratory results via high resolution images of the DiaMed gel microcolumn agglutination cards. The transmission is enabled by means of a special image capturing device. Special care is dedicated to the safety issues. In the pilot studies, pretransfusion testing results (blood grouping/cross-matching) were interpreted correctly when the images of gel cards were transmitted to the remote reference laboratory Appropriate expertise was offered to the sending technician, enabling a correct transfusion intervention. By virtue of telemedicine, it is possible to perform remote professional consultation so we expect that it will find its place in various reorganized blood transfusion services.
Descriptors		HEALTH SERVICES BLOOD TRANSFUSION TELEMEDICINE SLOVENIA