AM25-ST-26-L - Improving Recognition and Reporting of Transfusion Reactions: Data-Driven Insights and Quality Improvement Strategies

Proposed Session Description: This session will explore the challenges associated with underreporting of transfusion reactions, particularly those that can be severe in nature such as Transfusion-Associated Circulatory Overload (TACO), and demonstrate cost-effective means to improve reaction identification and reporting to improve transfusion safety.

The first half of the session will outline the gaps in transfusion reaction reporting, detailed by a faculty expert who has undertaken several studies in this domain, including a large-scale single site study as well as a comprehensive multi-site study involving several academic tertiary care hospitals. The faculty member will show the alarming findings regarding transfusion reaction under-reporting and lack of recognition, highlighting that only a small fraction of cases appear to be officially reported to the transfusion service. The discussion will explore and define current barriers to accurate transfusion reaction reporting. There will also be examples illustrating the opposite perspective: over-reporting.

The second half of the session will transition into practical solutions to break down those barriers by highlighting an easy-to-implement quality improvement initiative applicable to community-based hospitals, academic institutions, and large healthcare systems. Faculty for this portion of the session will detail how enhanced transfusion reaction detection, reporting, and interventions can be achieved via a multi-disciplinary approach that includes: nursing & provider education/engagement, post-transfusion checklists, and implementation of digital solutions (eg, ‘care signature pathways’).