Ann Lab Med.  2024 May;44(3):262-270. 10.3343/alm.2023.0242.

Optimizing the Hospital Blood Bank Stock in Korea: A Comparative Analysis of the Uniform 5-Day Stock Index and a Novel Blood Stock Index

• Park SJ
• Lim YA
• Kim KH

• KMID: 2555697
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3343/alm.2023.0242

Abstract

Background
Maintaining optimal blood inventory levels in hospitals is important to prevent blood shortage and wastage. We aimed to provide an efficient blood inventory management strategy for hospital blood banks nation-wide by comparing the current use of 5-day issuable stock (IS) with Lim’s IS as a novel target IS.
Methods
The average and CV of daily usage (DU) were calculated from information entered into Korea’s Blood Management System by 194 participating hospitals in 2019 and 2020. Using these data, Lim’s IS was calculated by determining the simulated annual average blood shortage day nearest to 1 for each blood group in each hospital. The 5-day IS (5IS) was estimated by multiplying the average DU in 2018 by five to count the shortage days in 2019.
Results
The average DU (0.3–231.3 units) and corresponding CV (0.33–7.14) in the participating hospitals were inversely proportional (r = –0.699 to –0.695). The hypothetical averages of 5IS and Lim’s IS were 27.0 ± 41.2 and 24.7 ± 20.8, respectively (P = 0.006). The shortage days for 5IS and Lim’s IS were 8.9 ± 22.7 and 1.0 ± 1.9, respectively (P < 0.001).
Conclusions
While 5IS was unacceptable for universal application, Lim’s IS remained near one shortage day and is considered more efficient than 5IS. Hospitals should implement indicators that consider DU and its variations. This is the first study to introduce Lim’s IS as an indicator of optimal blood inventory, and the data are expected to provide guidance for effective blood inventory management nationwide, particularly during blood shortages.

Keyword

Blood bank; Blood inventory management; Blood shortage day; Issuable stock

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Correlation between the average and CV of daily DU for blood groups: (A) O, (B) A, (C) B, (D) AB over a 2-yr period (2019–2020). The average DUs of nine hospitals with the highest DUs are shown as one-tenth of their original values (black circles). Abbreviation: DU, daily usage.

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  Fig. 2 Flow chart of the procedure used to obtain Lim’s daily IS level and the ISI for each hospital according to the ABO blood group. Abbreviations: IS, issuable stock; ISI, IS index.

Reference

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