International allies improve efficiency

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On 8-9 November 2016 the Blood Service was proud to host in Sydney the second Alliance of Blood Operators (ABO) meeting for 2016. Blood Service Chief Executive Shelly Park met with chief executives from blood services and networks in the US, Canada, England, Europe and Australia to discuss local challenges, recent changes and key issues impacting the blood sector internationally.

Hot topics this time included pathogen reduction, information technology, cybersecurity and data analytics. Key note speakers Jim Birch (Chair of the Blood Service Board) and Leif Hanlen (Technical Business Development Lead at CSIRO data61) provided deeper insight into the changing healthcare landscape, and the role of technology and data and what it means for blood operators and our service into the future.

Of course, ensuring a steady supply of blood for customers into the future is top of mind for many blood operators. One of the outcomes of the meeting was that the Blood Service will collaborate with the UK National Health Service (Blood and Transplant) to more deeply analyse donor behaviour data to inform future recruitment and retention strategies.

The meeting also included discussion on comparing performance, identifying best practices, and improving efficiencies. As a result, we’re developing a program to help implement some of the suggested changes here at the Blood Service, which we expect to improve our ability to use every taxpayer dollar wisely and deliver the right product at the right time to our customers.

Photo:
John Bain, Donor Centre Manager, Town Hall Blood Donor Centre
Ian Trenholm, CEO, National Health Service Blood & Transplant
Graham Sher, CEO, Canadian Blood Services
J. Chris Hrouda, Executive Vice President, American Red Cross Biomedical Services, and Chair of the Alliance of Blood Operators
Kari Aranko, Executive Director, European Blood Alliance
Dan Connor, CEO, Blood Systems Inc.
Christine Zambricki, CEO, America’s Blood Centers
Steve Morgan, Associate Director International Services, National Health Service Blood & Transplant
Charlie Wilcox, Senior Vice President Industry Relations, Blood Systems Inc.
Shelly Park, Chief Executive, Australian Red Cross Lifeblood
Paul Sullivan, Vice President Collections, American Red Cross Biomedical Services
Sheila Ward, Partner, Industry Knowledge Integration, Canadian Blood Services
Steven Eldridge, Donor Services Manager (NSW/ACT), Blood Service