The evolving role of information technology in haemovigilance systems

Abstract

This work provides an overview and appraisal of the general evolution of IS/IT in haemovigilance, from which lessons can be learned for its future strategic management. An electronic survey was conducted among the members of the International Haemovigilance Network to compile information on the mechanisms implemented to gather, process, validate, and store these data, to monitor haemovigilance activity, and to produce analytical reports. Survey responses were analysed by means of descriptive statistics, and comments/observations were considered in the final discussion. The answers received from 23 haemovigilance organizations show a direct relationship between the number of collected notifications (i.e., communication of adverse effects and events) and the technical specifications of the haemovigilance system in use. Notably, IT is used in the notification reception of 17 of these systems, out of which 8 systems are exclusively based on Web solutions. Most assessments of the evolution of IS/IT tend to focus on the scalability and flexibility of data gathering and reporting, considering the ever-changing requirements of haemovigilance. Data validation is poorly implemented, and data reporting has not reached its full potential. Web-based solutions are seen as the most intuitive and flexible for a system-user interaction. ; This work would not be possible without the precious collaboration of the IHN and the generous participation of the survey respondents. The SING group thanks CITI (Centro de Investigación, Transferencia e Innovación) from UniversityofVigoforhostingitsITinfrastructure.Thiswork was partially funded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme FP7/REGPOT-2012-2013.1 (Grant Agreement no. 316265, BIOCAPS), the Fundação para a Ciência eaTecnologia (FCT) under thescopeofthestrategic funding of the UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684). ...