Information system for blood grouping of patients

Abstract

The imrnuno-haernatology laboratory of the Blood Transfusion Centre of the Edouard Herriot Hospital at Lyon carried out 45 000 blood group tests in 1974, a number which exceeds the capacity of classical filing systems, whose use would require more work than the tests themselves; use of information systems allows easy storage of all the data related to blood groups and access in real time of these data. In the months and years to come, all the laboratories carrying out blood group tests in the Centre will have the use of the new system: every grouping performed by a laboratory will be available to all the others and to the medical services by way of the reference files of the patients.

The laboratory possesses a terminal with CII Iriscope 300 screen and CII IS 180 printer, linked by tele-informatic network to the central CII Iris 60 computer of the Civil Hospital of Lyon, with 512 kbytes of central memory. With the help of the registration numbers of the patients, the user obtains information on the identity (name, forename, sex, date of birth, address) and any previous blood group test (whose results are hidden from the laboratory staff)? The two technicians who carry out the tests by turns enter their results blind (along with the patient's identity if this is not already in the file).

The computer checks the agreement of the different tests and prints two copies of the group card, mentioning different tests with the place and dates.

Every evening it prints the legal copy for the laboratory, looks after the charging of the tests, and allows activity statistics to be obtained.

Different procedures permit special treatment of particular cases, such as the presence of an unusual antibody to be noted on the group card. Safety in transfusions is improved, and wasteful repetition of tests is avoided.