A haemovigilance team provides both significant financial and quality benefits in a University Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Haemovigilance is the process of surveillance of blood transfusion procedures including unexpected hazards and reactions during the transfusion pathway in both donors and recipients. The haemovigilance team aims to increase blood transfusion safety and to decrease both morbidity and mortality in donors and recipients. The team collects data about transfusion reactions and incidents, instructs the involved health workers and assures the tracing of blood components. The haemovigilance team at the University Hospitals Leuven has played a pioneering role in the development of haemovigilance in Belgium Although the literature about safety and quality improvements by haemovigilance systems is abundant, there are no published data available measuring their financial impact in a hospital. Therefore, we studied the costs and returns of the haemovigilance team at the University Hospitals Leuven. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study has a descriptive explorative design. Research of the current costs and returns of the haemovigilance team were based upon data from the Medical Administration of the hospital. Data were analyzed descriptively. RESULTS: The haemovigilance team of the University Hospitals Leuven is financially viable: the direct costs are covered by the annual financial support of the National Public Health Service. The indirect returns come from two important tasks of the haemovigilance team itself: correction of the electronic registration of administered blood component and improvement of the return of conform preserved blood components to the blood bank. DISCUSSION: Besides safety and quality improvement, which are obviously their main goals, the haemovigilance team also implies a financial benefit for the hospital.

Pregnancy-related health behavior of women with congenital heart disease: room for behavioral change interventions.

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy in women with congenital heart disease is associated with maternal and neonatal complications. In order to reduce risks for unfavorable outcomes, pregnant women need to adopt specific health behaviors. We investigated the pregnancy-related health behavior of women with congenital heart disease during their pregnancy. METHODS: As part of a large study on pregnancy in congenital heart disease in the Netherlands and Belgium, we designed a descriptive, retrospective study that included 137 women. Patients born between January 1, 1958 and December 31, 1983, who had been pregnant for at least 20 weeks, and who were in active cardiac follow-up were eligible for inclusion. Patients with isolated patent foramen ovale, rheumatic heart disease, and mental retardation were excluded. Participants were interviewed by telephone using a questionnaire to retrospectively assess their health behavior during pregnancy. RESULTS: Most of our participants did not drink alcohol (91.1-95.6%) and did not smoke (91.2-93.8%) during their pregnancy. Forty to fifty percent adopted physical restrictions. All were followed by an obstetrician, but only 38.2-56.9% regularly visited a cardiologist during pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: Health behavior in pregnant women with congenital heart disease is generally good. However, it was worrisome that only a relatively few patients received follow-up from a cardiologist.