Variation in Transfusion Practice and How to Influence Clinicians' Use of Blood in Hospitals

Abstract

Blood components are scarce and costly resources that are required for almost every area of hospital practice. Most quality improvement activity in transfusion has centred on small incremental improvements in safety of donated blood for transfusion, although increasing attention is now focusing on improving blood use by clinicians to be consistent with evidence-based recommendations. Audits of transfusion provide information on (variable) compliance with standards and levels of unnecessary transfusions and findings continue to show unnecessary use of blood outside established guidelines. The translation of research findings into hospital practice is often slow and haphazard and this applies ..