Hospital Newsletter

Introduction of online ordering for hospital customers

A few months ago, Canadian Blood Services shared Customer Letter #2021-47, Introduction of Online Ordering, with hospitals. The following are some important reminders regarding online ordering and the Hospital Portal. 

• Ordering blood products online allows hospitals to submit orders online through the Hospital Portal and will replace the need for faxed orders, with some current exceptions. 
• Onboarding dates will be scheduled with hospitals between January 2022 and June 2022. Some exceptions to this schedule may occur based on individual hospital circumstances. 
• Canadian Blood Services is providing hospitals with a User Guide and a series of short online training videos that will help support the order management training process. These are available online in the Hospital Portal. 
• Fax will remain the contingency method for ordering products in case of system outages at Canadian Blood Services or hospitals. 
• No shared customer accounts are allowed due to cybersecurity concerns. 

What can and cannot be ordered using the Initial Online Ordering System Release 

	CAN be Ordered	CANNOT be Ordered  These products need to be ordered by fax at this time.
Blood components	Products on the Blood Component Order Form, except for those noted in the CANNOT column.	K negative products on the Blood Component Order Form. As 100% of our whole blood donations are tested for the K antigen, hospital customers should feel confident that they will receive enough K negative units when ordering red blood cells for stock.  Any product on the Special Request Order Form   Any product on the Request for HLA/HPA Selected Platelets
Plasma Protein and Related Products	Products on the Volume Expanders/Immune Globulins and S/D Plasma Order Form, except for those noted.   Products on the Factor Concentrates & Other Plasma Protein & Related Order Form, except for those noted.	If there is a change in criteria for these or other products, the ability to order online will also change.   Products included in the Special Access Program. These are indicated by an asterisk on the product orders forms. For example, Factor XI, Bio Products Laboratory – 1000 IU.   Products on the Solvent Detergent Plasma Request Form (Octaplasma™ S/D Plasma Any Group).   Products on the Patient Designated Plasma Protein Products Form. For example, Panhematin®.

As of April 18, 2022, fifty-four hospitals across the country will have onboarded to online ordering. This number is constantly increasing every week.

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New section on HLA/HPA selected platelets on blood.ca

We are very excited to announce the launch of a new educational microsite on blood.ca that gives an overview of HLA/HPA selected platelets.  

“The new microsite complements Chapter 18 of our Clinical Guide to Transfusion,” says Canadian Blood Services’ medical officer, Dr. Waseem Anani. “It will help enlighten hospitals on what they need to know about assessing platelet refractoriness and treatment options.” 

The addition of HLA/HPA Selected Platelet Program information on this site along with the Rare Blood Program information, completes the Specialized Cells portfolio to which both these programs belong. 

“The information on our new microsite focuses on when and how to order HLA/HPA selected platelets and links to multiple forms and a report are available on the site,” says Natasha Rickards, supervisor, specialized cells and nurse specialist lead at Canadian Blood Services.  

The following documents are available on the microsite:  

• Platelet Alloimmunization Investigation Form 
• Request for HLA/HPA Selected Platelet Order Form 
• HLA/HPA Platelet Report  

After the Platelet Alloimmunization Investigation Form has been received and the patient’s HLA/HPA antibody test results are available, it takes an average of 3 to 5 days from the day the Order Form is received for the first dose of selected platelets to be available at the hospital. Once we start recruiting donors, platelet orders are filled about 99% of the time. 

Depending on the HLA/HPA antibody combinations, finding suitable donors can sometimes be challenging. We are constantly exploring options to increase the number and the diversity of HLA/HPA typed donors. We strive to have a pool of platelet donors that can best meet the needs of Canadian patients.   

Once the patient has started treatment with HLA/HPA selected platelet transfusions, it is important to continually assess the effectiveness of their treatment. We recommend a post-count and ideally a one-hour post-transfusion platelet count. This will help determine how many units of HLA/HPA selected platelets your patients might need moving forward. It is important to complete an HLA/HPA Platelet Report form and fax it back to the number on the form. This report is reviewed by a transfusion medicine nurse specialist who prioritizes selected donors that would best meet the patient’s needs.  

To minimize waste and donor fatigue, hospitals should kindly notify us if their patient’s needs change or if treatment with HLA/HPA selected platelets is no longer required. To change an existing order, put on hold, or cancel a platelet order, simply complete page two of the Request for HLA/HPA Selected Platelet order form and send it to your local Canadian Blood Services distribution site. 

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More information on pathogen reduced platelets 

As shared in customer letter 2022-04, Canadian Blood Services received Health Canada approval to proceed with launching psoralen treated pooled platelets at our Ottawa operations site on January 17, 2022. Plans are underway to include psoralen treated apheresis platelets, and more information will be shared later.  

At this time, psoralen treated platelets are only available to hospitals served by our Ottawa operations site. We’re still developing plans to roll out nationally. However, hospitals will be advised well in advance when this new product will become available in their area.  

We are also pleased to share more pathogen reduced pooled platelets information on our professional education website. The site includes short chapters on the following topics. 

• General information on pathogen reduction 
• Detailed information on the agent amotosalen (a type of psoralen compound) used in the manufacturer’s technology used at Canadian Blood Services 
• Pathogen inactivation efficacy 
• The platelet additive solution we use 
• The production process, product characteristics, packaging, and labeling 
• Benefits and clinical efficacy 
• Reported drawbacks associated with psoralen treated platelets 
• Additional resources  

More information, including national deployment details, will be shared in a future customer letter. 

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Red blood cell antigen genotyping resources 

Red blood cell antigen genotyping is a type of genetic testing offered through Canadian Blood Services at the National Immunohematology Reference Laboratory (NIRL) and available to healthcare providers across the country. To assist healthcare providers to interpret red blood cell antigen genotyping reports, we have added the following new resources to our professional education website:  

• An introductory resource, Red cell antigen genotyping report: A quick glance 
• A comprehensive course offering further details about specific report components (later in 2022) 

"Accessing the information is simple and convenient as users view a sample report and click through important notes on key sections,” says Canadian Blood Services medical officer Dr. Celina Montemayor-Garcia, who created the introductory resource. 

The new resource has a downloadable summary page and is designed to address common questions about key aspects of report interpretation. The comprehensive course is currently being developed for release later in 2022.  

Healthcare providers, including physicians, laboratory technologists, nurse practitioners, and others who may receive these reports, are invited to view the course and download the summary page for quick reference during their day-to-day. They are also encouraged to share information about these resources with others in their networks and to contact the NIRL directly about individual reports. 

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