Resurgence of the Blood Utilization Committee
Program Code: 327-TC
Monday, October 17, 2005
2:00 PM to 5:30 PM (ET)

MODERATOR
Susan D. Roseff, MD, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center

SPEAKERS
Susan D. Roseff, MD, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center
Sunita Saxena, MD, Los Angeles County + USC Healthcare Network
Bruce Spiess, MD, FAHA, Virginia Commonwealth University

DESCRIPTION
Through lecture format, this program will first look at published reports of the impact of a variety of interventions to influence transfusion practice. The program will describe two different university-based transfusion committees, looking at their organization, the data they track, and the strategies they use to give feedback to transfusing physicians. The role of the transfusion committee as an agent of meeting the goals of national patient safety initiatives will be explored. The use of the transfusion committee to serve as the impetus for a blood reduction program to improve patient outcomes and improve resource utilization will be discussed in detail. One speaker will speak from the viewpoint of a transfusion service director, and another from the perspective of a transfusing physician.