ASCP is thrilled to announce the
Alloantibody Exchange has received the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s (HHS) “Challenge on Equity” award, with the goal of having an Alloantibody Exchange implemented in the next two years. ASCP is particularly excited by this significant development as the efforts to create a nationwide Red Blood Cell Database began under our Past President Kim Sanford, MD, MASCP, MT(ASCP) and were continued with Past President Henry “Harv” Rinder, MD, FASCP. Under the leadership of these two past presidents, ASCP convened an ad hoc coalition that brought together many thought leaders in the blood bank community, including colleagues from the American Society of Hematology, the Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies, the American Red Cross, Yale University, and more. The project is one of 24 projects selected to “advance equity in programs, policies, and processes across the agency.” This represents an important patient-centric win on a policy issue for which ASCP has long advocated. (Source: OASH Announcement, 11/2/22)
In addition, in partnership with AABB and our colleagues at Yale, a recognition program has been created to recognize early adopters of the Alloantibody Exchange. The program will focus on blood bank information system vendors and hospitals as front-line allies in this work. This initiative will improve transfusion medicine safety and improve care for individuals who receive frequent blood transfusions. We are pleased this important project is moving forward on multiple fronts. ASCP will continue to monitor developments as they come.
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