One Farrer Park Hospital upgrades to MEDITECH Expanse and implements MEDITECH’s Blood Bank solution

Following shortly after its Expanse upgrade, The Farrer Park Hospital embarked on expanding its MEDITECH Blood Bank features. The Blood Bank application was already being used to track patients’ blood transfusions when donor blood was received from the National Blood Service. 

As part of our integrated Laboratory Information System, MEDITECH's Blood Bank solution improves efficiency and streamlines workflow, eliminating the time-consuming process in the operation of the blood bank. The Blood Bank solution tightly integrates donor, unit, transfusion, and patient history information with other data in MEDITECH Expanse, providing a comprehensive view of patient information.

MEDITECH’s Blood Bank solution also promotes patient safety and reduces turnaround times by integrating electronic crossmatching with Blood Bank Analysers, clearly flagging abnormal test results, reporting test and transfusion results, minimising product waste, utilising expert rules when recording, and seamlessly performing error checks.

Blood and blood components are tracked through integration with MEDITECH’s Transfusion Administration Record feature. The Transfusion Administration Record (TAR), a component of our Patient Care System, updates all relevant data relevant to transfusions in real-time. The TAR, which is accessible to both nurses and Blood Bank personnel, provides an electronic method for documenting patient vital signs and transfusion reactions before, during, and after blood transfusion.

The project was completed in just over six months, culminating in a successful go-live in July 2023. The success stands testament to the close collaboration between the MEDITECH and Farrer Park Hospital teams, who worked closely together throughout a well-planned, executive-sponsored, and meticulously executed implementation plan.

Congratulations to The Farrer Park Hospital on this great achievement. This is yet another example of how the rich integration found within Expanse benefits patients, clinicians, and hospital staff.