Blood Conservation at the POC: The Right Technology can Make a Difference

Blood conservation is a major objective for health care providers today. An unnecessary blood transfusion can pose potential risk to the patient and be costly. Decisions to give the patient blood are commonly made with POC devices that measure total hemoglobin directly or indirectly.

Hemoglobin measurement technology includes conductance, cyano-hemoglobin, and optical-based methods. Depending on the condition and treatment of the patient, some technologies will provide significantly more accurate hemoglobin levels. Choosing the right technology for the measurement of total hemoglobin and controlling the preanalytical phase can provide the same clinical accuracy as the central lab but in a shorter time to facilitate clinical decision making. Unfortunately the wrong choice may mislead the clinician into a decision potentially causing risk and cost to the patient especially for those receiving procedures that alter blood volume.

This Webinar will provide an overview of the various technologies to measure total hemoglobin at the POC weighting the merits of each method where the analytical performance will be compared. The importance of the preanalytical phase on accurate hemoglobin results with particular focus on the impact of sample mixing will also be presented from the literature and Dr. Tran’s recent studies at the University of California Davis Medical Center. Practical options that may be implemented at the attendee’s hospital will be discussed.

This Webinar Will:

• Review the importance of blood conservation and transfusion management with respect to patient care and it’s financial impact
• Discuss the analytical performance advantages and disadvantages of the cyano-hemoglobin, conductance and optical methods for measurement of total hemoglobin
• Describe the clinical application of oximetry and how calculated results like oxygen saturation compare
• Discuss application strategies at the POC to control the preanalytic phase and improve the accuracy of total hemoglobin results.

Presenter

Nam K. Tran, PhD, Assistant Adjunct Professor, Associate Director, Point-of-Care Testing Center for Teaching and Research, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Davis

Who Should Attend?

• Surgeons / Physicians
• Nurses
• Anesthesiologists
• Perfusionists
• Respiratory Therapists
• Point of Care Coordinators / Supervisors / Managers
• Laboratorians
• Quality Managers
• Laboratorians

Continuing Education

US Participants

• One PACE^® credit-hour will be provided for this session.
• This session is approved for 1 Florida CE credit. Florida Board of Clinical Laboratory Personnel approved number: 50-12563
• Application has been made to the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) for continuing education contact hours for respiratory therapists.
• This Program Has Been Approved by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) for 1.00 CERP, Synergy CERP Category A, File Number 00019775.