Evaluating transfusion medicine patterns of practice across GEMINI sites

Randomized trials and guidelines have been published to guide transfusions, but despite widespread knowledge translation efforts, the rate of unnecessary transfusions remains high at 20% for red cells, 30% for platelets, 35% for plasma, and 50% for albumin. Unnecessary transfusions have negative consequences for patients, donors, and the healthcare system. We are proposing a novel approach to curtail unnecessary transfusions. By partnering with GEMINI Medicine (patient-level data from 30 hospitals), we will develop an online dashboard (GADGET: GEMINI Analysis and Dashboard to Guide Effective Transfusion) to display personalized blood prescribing data to clinicians and hospital leadership. GADGET will be linked to granular patient-level data to allow for determination of transfusion appropriateness; as such, physicians and hospitals will be able to view where they rank for appropriate blood use amongst their peers. GADGET will involve diverse users in the development process and will employ user-centered design so that the dashboard can be iteratively refined. This project will inform a future randomized trial at GEMINI participating hospitals to evaluate the impact of the dashboard on blood utilization. This work aligns with the Program’s objective to optimize the utilization of blood at a system level. The funding will support data-analysis and dashboard design.

CALLUM, Jeannie

Queen's University

Kenneth J. Fyke Award Program

Ontario

$98,822