Information Technology in Blood Banking & Transfusion Services Certificate Program

The certificate program comprises 3 modules and select content from the AABB Blood Banking & Transfusion Medicine 101 eCast series:

• Module 1: Overview of Blood Collection, Manufacturing, and Transfusion - designed to introduce IT professionals to blood banking concepts, practices, and regulatory governance.
• Module 2: Blood Establishment Computer Software (BECS) - introduces the IT professional to Blood Establishment Computer Software (BECS), the Blood Establishment Computer System, and FDA requirements related to software use in a blood establishment.
• Module 3: Regulating and Accrediting Authorities in Blood Banking - introduces IT personnel to regulators and accrediting organizations. While it is not possible to include all organizations, this module includes information regarding authorities with the greatest influence on blood banking policies and practices.
• AABB Blood Banking & Transfusion Medicine 101 eCast series: Selected Sessions
  To provide a basic understanding of blood components, the following content topics are provided as a precursor to Module 1:
  • Overview of the Blood Pipeline (Required)
  • Ecology of Blood (Required)
  • Transfusion Medicine as Applied Immunology (Required)
  • Industry Review/Overview: Challenges in this Area (Required)
  • Blood Centers 101 (Required)
  • Requirements for Storage and Expiration (Required)
  • Principles of Blood Supply Safety (Required)
  • Directed & Autologous Donors (Required)
  • Blood Banking: Global Environment (Optional)
  • Blood Banking: Challenges in this Area (Optional)
  • Blood Products and Indications on Why You Would Transfuse Each (Optional)
  • ABO Typing & Antibody Screening/Identification and Cross Matching – Why is This Important (Optional)
  • Adverse Effects of Blood Transfusion (Optional)
  • Transfusion Medicine: Challenges in this Area (Optional)
  • Regulatory/Compliance: Challenges in this Area (Optional)

A complete syllabus including learning objectives is available for download and review.

This program is offered entirely online as independent, self-paced study through AABB’s Education Platform. After registering for the program, each learner will receive immediate access to the program. Access is granted for 1 year from the date of registration. This program is self-paced; however, learners must complete all modules, assessments, and a program evaluation within the year to receive the Certificate of Completion. If learners are unable to complete the program within the one-year period and still wish to complete the program, they must either re-purchase the program at full price if access has been removed or submit a retake form (includes a reduced fee of $59) which will provide an additional 12 months of access and two additional attempts on any failed module assessment(s).

Purchase of individual modules is not provided.

Fees

Individual Registration Pricing:

• AABB Individual Member: $479
  Individual Nonmember: $579

Discount for Multiple Registrations:

Institutions will receive 10% off the list price when purchasing 2 or more registrations. The list price for each individual learner will be determined by the institution’s AABB membership status (not each individual’s membership status).

Module Assessment Retake Fee:

$59 (member/nonmember)
Contact the AABB eLearning team at eLearning@aabb.org to request the form. It is recommended to complete all module assessments before requesting a retake.

How To Register

Individuals can register online via the AABB Store. If you do not have an account, you will be prompted to create one. Payment confirmation will be provided immediately after registering.

Institutions that want to purchase registrations for learners must complete and return the registration form. Payment confirmation will be provided within 2-5 business days.

While there are no prerequisites for the program, learners are expected to have:

• a working knowledge of computer hardware, computer systems and databases.
• a basic understanding of current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP), which is a training requirement for all employees at blood establishments.
• a rudimentary familiarity with blood components: red blood cells, plasma and platelets (content included with Module 1).
• a basic understanding of quality systems related to software development and a general understanding of software and manufacturing processes used in blood establishments.
• a familiarity with blood banking software and application, user access and security requirements in a blood banking environment.

Read and study all materials for each module. Follow the modules in order as information builds upon preceding lessons. Since this is a self-paced program, learners may decide how much time is needed to review and study the materials. It is estimated that each module will take approximately 2-4 hours to complete. A suggested strategy is to create a study plan or timeline for completing each module and the required Blood Banking & Transfusion Medicine 101 eCast series content. Follow that plan to ensure timely completion within the year that you will have access to the program.

Assessment and Grading To Obtain Certificate

For successful completion of the program resulting in conferral of the IT Certificate:

1. Review the Blood Banking & Transfusion Medicine 101 eCast series required content.
2. When ready to move to the modules, read and carefully study each slide in each module.
3. After each module you will be provided an assessment. Answer all of the assessment questions; scoring 80% or higher. The assessment is a pass/fail exercise where learners will have 2 opportunities to achieve 80% or higher. There is no grade provided for the assessment; rather an opportunity to reinforce your understanding of the content provided in the program. On each assessment:
   • Learners will receive test questions (i.e., multiple choice, true-false questions, fill in the blanks) and asked to select the correct answer.
   • Learners will receive feedback as to whether an answer choice is correct or incorrect.
   • Learners will be provided, after the first attempt, the section in each module to study and/or review to prepare for final attempt for each question.
   • Feedback with the correct answers will be provided after the second and final attempt for each question.
4. Complete the AABB Information Technology in Blood Banking & Transfusion Services Certificate Program Post-Program Evaluation (Certificate of Completion issued).
5. Claim continuing education (CE) credit type (CE certificate issued).

This program is eligible for 11 continuing education credits/contact hours for General Participation, California Lab Personnel or Florida Lab Personnel. The number and type of credits awarded for this program was determined by the estimated program completion time. This program is not eligible for continuing education for physicians or California Nurse contact hours. For more information on each credit type please visit our Continuing Education Credits webpage. A continuing education certificate of completion will be immediately provided to learners upon reviewing all 3 modules (including the required Blood Banking & Transfusion Medicine 101 eCast Series content), successful completion of all 3 module assessments, completion of the program evaluation, and claiming your continuing education credit type.

This program has been developed by the AABB Information Systems Committee. While there are numerous participants that have brought this program to fruition, key faculty include (titles and affiliations at the time of program development):

Faculty

	Patricia Distler, MS, MT(ASCP)SBB Chair, AABB Information Systems Committee Former Technical Director, ICCBBA Redlands, CA
	Waseem Anani, MD Medical Officer, Canadian Blood Services Toronto, Canada
	Suzanne H. Butch, MA, MLS(ASCP)SBB, DLM, CQA(ASQ) Former Manager, Clinical Pathology Quality Assurance Department of Pathology University of Michigan Hospitals Ann Arbor, MI
	Erwin Cabana Technical Manager, ICCBBA Redlands, CA
	Mandy Flannery O’Leary, MD, MPH Associate Member, Department of Pathology, Moffitt Medical Group Associate Professor, Department of Oncologic Sciences, University of South Florida Moffitt Cancer Center Tampa, FL
	Karen Moniz Technical Director, ICCBBA Redlands, CA
	Quynh Vantu, CLS, CQA(ASQ), FACHE, MLS(ASCP)SBB, MS Program Manager, Department of Veterans Affairs Washington, DC

Contributors

AABB wishes to thank the following individuals and institutions for their valued and in-kind contributions to the program:

Carter BloodCare
Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin
Shankar Goudar
Max Glosup
Phyllis Kirchner
Past AABB Information Systems Committee Members