Red Cross Finland Blood Service Bone Bank Network Starts Using TissueDB
Red Cross Finland Blood Service, responsible for managing the bone bank network for nine hospitals, has taken the TissueDB solution into use. The software solution tailored for tissue bank management allows meeting the legislative requirements on traceability and transparency.
Red Cross Finland Blood Service holds the total responsibility for the quality control of the nine Finnish hospitals in the bone bank network. “We are responsible for, for example, all documentation related to transplants, all communication toward the authorities and testing for infections and bacteria," lists Anne Arvola, the Head of Department for tissue services.
The TissueDB management solution was selected for managing, supervising and following up on the donor and tissue information within the network. In the everyday work of the Finnish Red Cross, the solution enables the real-time management of all donor information and the inventories of individual hospitals.
Providing Big Picture in Real-time and Tool for Electronic Data Sharing
The general terms and quality standards for the handling of tissues of human origins are defined in national legislation and in the EU Directive 2004/23/EC. The legislation ensures the full transparency of all tissue banks' activities, exact tissue traceability and record keeping for at least 30 years. The amount of accumulated information is enormous.
”It is our assumption that the next EU-wide step is to recommend a documentation coding system that encodes each and every individual transplant and the related documentation,” Arvola explains.
Before the TissueDB solution was taken into use, all documentation for the bone bank network was handled and stored on paper. Now the requests and transplant information is handled electronically.
”Before, if we wanted to know the current inventory in different hospitals, we had to call the hospital. TissueDB provides an up-to-date big picture to the situation. For example, the Paimio Hospital utilises tissue transplants, but does not harvest them. As an example case, when the Paimio Hospital sends an electronic request, we can instantly check which location in Finland has the transplant they need," Arvola describes.
A data management solution increases security. If the infection testing produces a positive result, TissueDB prohibits the tissue being used. This significantly reduces the margin for human errors.
Leading Data Management Solution, Consistent Documentation
TissueDB is the leading management solution for tissue banks, and nearly 90% of all hospital tissue banks use the system. According to Anne Arvola, the decision to select the software was supported by positive user experiences from Oulu University Hospital. A centralised data management solution enables the consistency and effortless comparability of documentation.
”The introduction of the system has met the planned schedules. Currently, we are training internal personnel,” Arvola continues and confirms that the system is fast to implement and effortless to learn.
Arvola acknowledges the cooperation with BCB Medical a success. All requests and questions from Red Cross Finland have been swiftly dealt with.
Additional information:
Petteri Viljanen
Managing Director
BCB Medical Ltd
tel. 0400 727 366
Anne Arvola
Head of Department
Red Cross Finland Blood Service
tel 050 327 3447
BCB Medical is a health care service provider offering browser-based information management solutions to support the management, follow-up and distribution of medical information. The company was established in 2003 and is the leading provider of information management solutions for tissue banks and orthopaedic treatments in Finland. The company’s products include TissueDB, ImplantDB and ArtuX.
The Red Cross Finland Blood Service bone bank network includes the North Karelia Central Hospital, Savonlinna Central Hospital, Satakunta Central Hospital, Turku University Hospital (Main Hospital and Surgical Hospital), Regional Hospitals in Rauma, Loimaa and Salo, and the Paimio Hospital.