Celebrating a Remarkable Achievement in Provincial Red Cell Inventory Management

Written By:

Troy Thompson- CE ORBCoN Regional Manager

Sheena Scheuermann- SW ORBCoN Regional Project Coordinator

2006 marked the inception of the Ontario Regional Blood Coordinating Network (ORBCoN). One of the mandates of ORBCoN is to improve utilization and inventory management of blood and blood products.  In 2006, approximately 10,000 red blood cell units (RBC) were outdated over 158 Ontario hospitals, which equates to an outdate rate of 2.7%.

Over the past 18 years, significant efforts have been made to reduce RBC inventory and outdating by hospital Transfusion Medicine Laboratories throughout Ontario. By 2021/22, total RBC outdates had been reduced to less than 2,000 units, a remarkable reduction that has remained through to 2023/24. This achievement represents a drop in the outdate rate to less than 0.5 %, which equates to approximately 8,000 fewer RBC outdates compared to 2006/07 levels.

The success can be attributed to several key initiatives, including hospital sites taking part in provincial programs such as redistribution, using various inventory management tools developed by ORBCoN or the hospital sites themselves, and through collaborative hospital site visits between Canadian Blood Services and ORBCoN.

ORBCoN would like to take this opportunity to highlight the efforts and thank the hospitals for the successful reduction of the provincial RBC outdate rate, ensuring sustainability of the red blood cell supply for the patients who require them.
Ontario hospitals, your diligent work is appreciated! Congratulations on this amazing achievement!