Putting the focus on saving lives, not managing data

With 55,000 to 60,000 donations annually, the staff of the Blood Center at the Stanford University School of Medicine spent much of its time hand-delivering paperwork around town—until they started using Laserfiche. “You can’t imagine how much time this saves us,” says Medical Records Supervisor Brenda Glover. “Four hours a day, at least.”

The Blood Center’s donors are dedicated donors who often give just a portion of their blood called the platelets, which are vital for cancer victims undergoing chemotherapy. With the platelets removed, the rest of the blood is returned to the donor’s body, enabling them to donate again much sooner than if they had donated whole blood. Some of them have donated up to 500 times, according to Glover, who has donated her own blood 68 times.

Each donation requires filling out a history card, whether it’s an individual’s first or fiftieth time at the Blood Center. These cards provide vital details which may affect an individual’s eligibility to donate. Staff then have to make sure that information is complete and has been reviewed by the medical professionals drawing the blood before any donations can be collected. Having consistent information readily accessible in multiple locations is crucial in such situations.

With Laserfiche software installed and a new server up and running, all the Blood Center’s computers at remote collection locations were networked into the Laserfiche system at on-campus headquarters. Donor documents scanned into Laserfiche are now instantly available for nurses in the satellite offices through a password-secured Website. When a donor walks into one of the remote locations, the person’s entire donation and health history is instantly available, enabling doctors to accept the donations faster and confirm the safety on the spot.