Implementation of ISBT quality indicators in the quality management and haemovigilance systems

Quality indicators are an indispensable tool in quality measurement. Monitoring and analysis of quality indicators, along with implementation of appropriate corrective measures, enable continuous product and service quality improvement. Quality indicators have been used for years in health-care institutions, while in transfusion medicine, they have only recently received due attention. Since 2010, an array of activities in the field of education on quality indicators, their selection and implementation have been launched under the umbrella of the International Society of Blood Transfusion Working Party on Quality Management. Besides historical review of these activities, the place and role of quality indicators in the quality management and haemovigilance systems, methods of their selection, defining quality objectives and action limits, statistical monitoring and reporting are discussed.