IHF System

"In my job as the head of an immunohematology laboratory, I have often been called upon to help physicians choose the tactics to be employed in transfusion therapy, especially when they are confronted with a complex case. The need for a concise, simple, accurate, and fast approach led me to the idea of creating an information model that can determine the ideal selection of red blood cell units for transfusion patients, while simultaneously optimizing the long-term blood bank inventory.

Elena Butina, MD, PhD, ScD

IHF Full Solution

IHF has targeted for improvement the clinical efficacy and operational efficiency of blood banks, medical facilities, physicians, and research laboratories.

User Groups & Beneficiaries

Physician and Medical Facility

Minimize acute and delayed HTR Prevent the alloimmunization of blood transfusion recipients Reduce delayed transfusions that are due to complex or time-consuming donor selection Create patient profile Determine patient-relevant required blood typing information Determine patient-relevant medical information sufficiency, including blood typing Check patient phenotype for impossible, improbable, and rare antigen combinations Analyze the patient base and create a collective (service area) patient profile Improve ability to partner with blood bank to determine current and future RBC unit allocations and donor typing requirements

Blood Bank

Recommend RBC unit storage method (immediate vs. long term) Recommend degree of typing level for a specific donor Optimize blood bank inventory Blood unit stocking, allocation, and distribution Long-term storage/RBC cryopreserved pool Unclaimed blood unit reduction (waste) Consider existing donor and likely patient populations Perform patient-donor matching based on the required information as specified by the recipient’s TRG (risk group) Perform patient-donor matching based on all available information Perform patient-donor matching manually and compare with model recommendations Review and analyze RBC unit selection decisions versus model recommendations Optimize the distribution of available blood units amongst recipients Provide blood bank inventory analysis for a given time frame Provide a rationale for the planning, collection, and storage of blood units Predict (forecast) blood product availability needs by phenotype definition, quantities required, and method of storage

Medical Device Manufacturer

Determine patient-relevant required blood typing information Determine patient-relevant medical information sufficiency including blood typing Perform analysis of supply and demand for blood typing equipment and reagents

Medical Quality Assurance and Regulatory Organization

Review and analyze past blood unit selection decisions versus model recommendations and measure difference Calculate metrics/score for a specified time period Control provision of compatible RBCs to patients in need

Research Laboratory

Provides research laboratories with a new tool Establishes a discovery framework and data platform to further the study of immunohematology