Mediware BloodSafe(TM) Extends Blood Safety To The Bedside

Main Category: Blood / Hematology
Also Included In: Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Article Date: 21 Jul 2007 - 0:00 PDT

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Mediware Information Systems (Nasdaq: MEDW) has introduced its new BloodSafe(TM) system, a 510(k)-cleared, bedside point-of-care, transfusion administration package designed to extend blood-safety controls outside the blood bank. It consists of remote release refrigerators that make units immediately and safely available throughout the hospital and powerful handheld devices to verify blood units transfused in surgery or at the bedside. Mediware is offering the BloodSafe system in North America either as a stand-alone solution or as a fully integrated component of the company's market-leading transfusion-management system, HCLL(TM).

"Three of four adverse blood events are a result of activities performed outside the four walls of the blood bank," said John Damgaard, Mediware's Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "With the addition of our BloodSafe system, healthcare institutions have powerful new tools to seamlessly extend the blood bank's discipline and process control to the point of care. The result is true closed-loop blood management including remote electronic blood allocation and dispensing, positive patient ID at the bedside and a complete electronic transfusion administration record."

According to Damgaard, the combination of the HCLL software and the BloodSafe system will enable top-tier institutions to drive higher levels of safety and efficiency in their blood management practices. "The BloodSafe system's intelligent remote allocation refrigerators make fully tested blood products immediately available to staff in high-use areas such as operating rooms or emergency departments," he said. "This is important in critical-care situations when proximity and availability are essential for successful patient outcomes. "Further, the BloodSafe system enables nurses at the bedside to safely administer the right blood to the right patient."

The BloodSafe system provides intelligent storage, allocation and release capabilities with bedside point-of-care verification. When operated in conjunction with Mediware's HCLL Transfusion software, centralized and distributed transfusion service environments will benefit from the tightly integrated package that enables true closed-loop blood management. This new generation of automated tools offered with Mediware's BloodSafe system will help reduce transfusion errors, improve patient safety and maximize operational efficiencies across the healthcare enterprise. Mediware's BloodSafe system will be available as a complementary technology for use with third-party transfusion management systems.

In addition to faster access and remote safety controls, a study performed in the United Kingdom showed that improved accessibility through remote release achieved waste and usage reductions as high as 40 percent. BloodSafe incorporates proven blood tracking, remote blood issue and bedside transfusion safety technology from Neoteric Technology Ltd., makers of BloodTrack(R).

Further information about BloodSafe can be requested at http://www.mediware.com/bloodsafe.

About HCLL(TM)

HCLL Transfusion is the flagship of Mediware's blood management suite. The suite includes software systems to manage process and information relating to blood donation and transfusion. Since becoming commercially available in mid 2003, the HCLL Transfusion software has been licensed by more than 300 institutions and has captured nearly 20 percent of the US hospital market with more than 500 beds. The HCLL suite of products, including HCLL Transfusion and HCLL Donor, provide healthcare facilities with powerful technology and rich clinical functionality necessary to streamline blood management processes -- from donation to transfusion. Mediware's blood bank management software products are classified by the FDA as medical devices and maintain 510(k) clearance.

About Mediware

Mediware delivers powerful software solutions that encapsulate patient care instructions, reinforce patient safety practices and improve efficiencies to lower costs. Mediware targets three primary areas of patient care -- Medication Management, Perioperative Management and Blood Management (transfusion, inventory and donor practices) -- with specialized solutions that are proven to improve operational effectiveness and clinical outcomes. Mediware customers include prestigious hospitals, clinics, correctional institutions, blood centers and other public and private health care institutions throughout the world.

Mediware Information Systems
http://www.mediware.com/bloodsafe