Abstract
The preparation unit of Hakodate Red Cross Blood Center (Hakodate BC) was consolidated with the Hokkaido Red Cross Blood Center (Sapporo BC) in 2006, and inventory of blood products is now controlled through a network system formed by blood centers in Hokkaido. Consolidation was projected to have a negative impact on the stable supply of blood products, especially platelet products, which have a short shelf life and thus a limited amount in inventory. We performed a retrospective investigation of the influence of consolidation, focusing on emergency orders of platelet products. Although platelet products supplied within two hours after an order were temporarily decreased immediately after consolidation in 2006, these recovered in 2009 to the level in 2005, a pre-consolidation year, by rearrangement of the inventory scale. Platelet products supplied within two hours after an order could be regarded as being derived from inventory stock. Platelet products supplied more than 6 hours after an order, which were not derived from inventory stock, were decreased in 2009 to half of that in 2006. Regarding platelet products that were ordered outside of business hours, 88.5% were supplied within one hour in 2009, in contrast to 53.8% in 2006. In conclusion, the stable supply of platelet products can be achieved by appropriate inventory management even in emergency situations.
Inventory management on a larger scale by the active inter-BC transport of blood products is thought to be an important way to achieve stable supply as well as economical efficiency, whereas management solely in a local blood center is difficult because of its small scale.
