(P-BC-8) A Quality Improvement Project to Improve Platelet Collection at a Hospital-Based Blood Donor Center and Component Processing Laboratory.

All steps in platelet production – including recruitment, collection, and manufacturing – were mapped.  Areas of weakness were identified using root cause analysis. Pathogen Reduction technology and in-house hematology testing (PR-HT) was a cornerstone of our project.  For this measure, the rate of missed doubles was assessed for 12 months periods preceding and following go live.  A suite of donor outreach, screening, and convenience (OSC) measures were developed.  For this measure, we compared 1^st quarter data for donors scheduled and products produced for 2022 and 2023 (which predated OSC measures) against data for 2024 (representing full implementation of measures). Student’s T-Test was used to evaluate significance of response.  Collection and production data were graphed using boxplots and missed doubles data using scatterplot – see Figure A. 


Results/Findings: Our PR-HT implementation went live May 1, 2023, and resulted in a statistically significant reduction in missed-doubles (pre-vs-post go-live 15% vs 4%, p< 0.0001).  Donor OSC measures resulted in a statistically significant increase in average monthly platelet donor appointments for 2024 vs 2023 and 2024 vs 2022 (138 vs 122, p=0.042; 138 vs 116, p=0.029).  Also notable was the improvement in variability: for 2022 and 2023, the standard deviation of scheduled donor numbers was 15.86 and 13.14, respectively, whereas for 2024, it was 5.56.  Together, these measures resulted in a significant increase in average monthly platelet products collected for 2024 vs 2023 and 2024 vs 2022 (201 vs 173, p=0.068; 201 vs 165, p=0.039).  Variability in manufacturing yield was reduced as well with standard deviation for 2022 and 2023 being 27.94 and 27.68, respectively, whereas for 2024, it was 8.42.

Conclusions: The suite of quality improvement measures undertaken resulted in improved donor scheduling, reduction in missed-doubles, and an increase in platelet units produced.  Consistency of performance was also improved. Continuing measures include imminent go-live of triple-platelet collection/manufacturing.