Buffalo Grove, IL, Friday, September 30, 2011 – Buffalo Grove, IL, September 30, 2011 – Healthcare-ID, Inc., announces that three customers have begun to use the internet CASI (iCASI) module. This module lets the donor access the health history questions from their own computer. On the day of donation, while in the privacy of their home or office, the donor accesses the blood center website, answers the questions and prints a receipt to bring with them to the collection site. A blood center staff member scans the barcodes on the receipt to identify the donor and to bring the answers into the Donor-ID WebTM software and then follow up on any responses requiring more information to be documented. “We are thrilled that three of our customers have decided to offer their donors the flexibility of answering the history questions prior to arriving at the collection site for their donation appointment. We hope that the positive responses given by donors and blood center staff will encourage more blood centers to utilize the iCASI module in the future” said Bryan Sadorf, Vice President of Product Management.
The reaction from Blood Center Donor-ID WebTM customers is enthusiastic. “Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center is constantly seeking ways to make donating blood more convenient, and this new benefit will do just that,” said Bart Block, director of Management Information Systems at Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center. “Over the years donors have requested the option to answer their health history questions in advance. We are proud and excited to be able to fulfill this request and make it easier for more individuals to donate.”
Initial feedback from donors is overwhelmingly positive. Kenneth Kieffer, Vice President of Recruitment, Collections and Production Planning at Memorial Blood Center in St Paul, Minnesota said, “Enhancing the donation experience for our loyal and generous donors is goal #1 at Memorial Blood Centers. We are aware of the time commitment our donors make whenever they come in to donate blood. The iCASI system reduces the total amount of time they are required to spend at their donation appointment. Donors who have used the iCASI system find it to be fast, user-friendly and convenient.”
At ITxM , Mary Plut, System Administrator for Donor-ID reports that, “ITxM implemented iCASI in November 2010. Since the implementation of iCASI, we have seen a steady increase in usage by our donors. Our donors have stated the ability to answer their health history questions prior to the arrival at the collection site is great time saver. The improvement to the donor flow with the use of iCASI is remarkable especially in the mobile environment. The Collection staff at our blood centers have fully embraced the use of iCASI It has produced positive effects for both the donors in terms of improved efficiency of the donation process and for the staff in ease of operation.”
Donor-ID WebTM is used to collect over 7,000,000 units of blood annually at eleven blood centers across the United States: Blood Bank of Delmarva in Newark, DE; Coffee Memorial Blood Center in Amarillo, TX; Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center in Houston, TX; ITxM in Illinois (LifeSource Blood Services), Pennsylvania, and West Virginia (Central Blood Bank); LifeStream in San Bernardino, CA; Memorial Blood Center in St Paul, MN; Mississippi Blood Services in Jackson, MS; Oklahoma Blood Institute in Oklahoma City, OK; Stanford Blood Center in Palo Alto, CA; and The American Red Cross, nationwide.
(About Healthcare-ID) Incorporated in January 1995, Healthcare-ID develops and markets products to meet the Blood Center's need for automating the entry of accurate information at both fixed and mobile collection sites to eliminate disposal of collected blood units based on donor eligibility and suitability and significantly reduce the cost of blood collection. Healthcare-ID, with its Donor-ID WebTM product offers modules including Registration, Health History Screening, CASI, Internet CASI, Physical Exam, Daily QC, Phlebotomy, Shipping, Survey, and Donor Adverse Reaction (as developed with the AABB Biovigilance committee) Donor-ID WebTM interfaces to most major blood center data management systems.
(About Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center) Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center is the primary supplier of blood components to more than 170 hospitals and healthcare facilities in the 26-county Texas Gulf Coast, East Texas and Brazos Valley regions. Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center is an independent, nonprofit blood center that is not affiliated with the American Red Cross. For more information visit www.giveblood.org or call 1(888) 482-5663.
(About Memorial Blood Center) Memorial Blood Centers has been helping to save lives for over 60 years as an independent nonprofit supplying life-saving blood to area hospitals and other partners throughout the U.S. Operating 11 donor centers and conducting hundreds of blood drives each month, Memorial Blood Centers also provides comprehensive testing and expert technical services as a national leader in transfusion medicine. For more information call 888 GIVE-BLD or visit www.MBC.org .
(About ITxM) The Institute for Transfusion Medicine (ITxM) is one of the nation's foremost organizations specializing in transfusion medicine and related services. Its Pittsburgh-based Central Blood Bank and Chicago-based LifeSource business units annually distribute nearly one million blood products to approximately 100 healthcare facilities in four states. Central Blood Bank services 40 area hospitals in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and northern West Virginia through its collections at more than 25 community donor centers and approximately 200 mobile blood drives a month. LifeSource services approximately 60 hospitals in Illinois through its collections at more than 20 donor centers and approximately 200 mobile blood drives a month. For more information visit www.itxm.org .