Team strives for single global blood database

Defense blood systems consolidate to improve patient safety

Tracking accurate, up-to-date blood donation records through a web of legacy systems without access to a consolidated, electronic system remains a challenge for military health care providers throughout the National Capital Region. The Military Health System Office of the Chief Information Officer’s Defense Health Information Management System program office strives to overcome this challenge.

DHIMS’ Enterprise Blood Management System team recently conducted site visits at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., to observe current Blood Donor Center business practices. The team’s primary role is to link the data migration and integration of the MHS’ complex Defense Blood Standard System with technical and functional expertise.

The Enterprise Blood Management System team began their journey at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Following their visit, they conducted a limited scope gap analysis of the current blood donation process flow as it relates to federally regulated and accreditation agency manufacturing of blood products; and the use of blood establishment computer software.

The gap analysis is a customer-focused tool that allows the team to assess risks associated with the transition from the Defense Blood Standard System to the projected Enterprise Blood Management System commercial-off-the-shelf product. Documenting the preliminary gap analysis that measures system functionality gains and losses incurred as a result of this transition is important for future planning initiatives. For instance, important site-specific concerns the team gathered as part of the gap analysis at the National Capital Region’s North Campus at Walter Reed may affect the blood management system at the region’s South Campus at DeWitt Army Community Hospital on Fort Belvoir, Va.

Officials with the Defense Health Information Management System stated the transition toward system data-consolidation exists as a result of Base Realignment and Closure-driven requirements within the National Capital Region and other locations using the Defense Blood Standard System. The consolidation effort will ultimately increase patient safety and improve end-to-end donor management. 

Within the National Capital Region, it’s possible for a patient treated at a North Military Medical Campus (i.e., Walter Reed and the National Naval Medical Center) to also receive treatment at the South Military Medical Campus (i.e., DeWitt Army Community Hospital) for both emergency and routine care. Likewise, patients can also give blood donations and receive transfusions at either facility. Therefore, it’s important to consolidate legacy donor and transfusion information to help reduce the risks of incorrectly identifying donors and blood units.

Ultimately, the consolidation will ease the patient tracking process for health care providers and decrease labor associated with locating the correct patient information.

It should create a seamless transition for health care providers accessing data because the manner through which they access the data will not change. With better checks and balances in place, the consolidated database will also help mitigate risks for all donors, reducing the time spent on pre-donation questionnaires and improving the already meticulous blood management safety process.

“DHIMS’ Enterprise Blood Management System will replace the legacy system to consolidate blood donor information, including demographics, testing and transfusion data and merge all existing Defense Blood Standard System data into a single global database,” said John Welch, Public Health Service Lt. Commander for DHIMS.

Blood operations, including donor and transfusion activities at Walter Reed, will move to the National Naval Medical Center as efforts continue to establish the Center as the National Capital Region’s military medical campus.

This effort requires a technical solution to merge Defense Blood Standard System databases into one that is centrally housed and maintained at the National Naval Medical Center, DHIMS officials said.

The discoveries by the Enterprise Blood Management System team helped all organizations find better ways to integrate operations and data migration while improving the information and communication flow.

In addition, DHIMS’ Enterprise Blood Management System team hosts a weekly integrated project team meeting, which primarily serves as the project’s single information dissemination point to keep stakeholders fully engaged throughout the transition process.

The early stages of the consolidation effort have helped all organizations find better ways to integrate operations and data migration while improving information and communication flow.

Following the success of the first blood management data consolidation, the Enterprise Blood Management System team plans to use the National Capital Region as a model to replicate the process in various regions throughout the United States based on lessons learned during this initial phase. The team will provide assistance with each stage of the consolidation as they acquire, test and deploy the next enterprise blood system.

The decision to make the transition toward a consolidated blood management system is ultimately in the hands of each facility involved. The phased-in approach requires consideration for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regulatory and accreditation validation; data verification; and modifications to current or existing business practices.

The Enterprise Blood Management System team’s next step is to wait, watch and learn.

Public Health Service Lt. Cmdr. John Welch, DHIMS Product Line Manager

Kate Zanoni, DHIMS Communications, contributed to this report.