Hemovigilance

Hemovigilance is a term used to describe the surveillance systems for the entire transfusion chain, from donations to transfusions and their follow-ups. The goals of such a system are to improve patient safety and transfusion efficiency by documenting and learning from failures and near misses. Since its inception in the 1990s, hemovigilance has become a major component of quality improvement and an essential part of transfusion practice. Today most developed countries, and some developing countries, have implemented national hemovigilance systems. As a system for reporting errors and learning from these events, hemovigilance requires incidents to be fully investigated so that deficiencies in the transfusion chain can be identified. Data from hemovigilance have provided valuable information on transfusion risks and their main causes. More importantly, hemovigilance data have informed research in key areas. Overall, hemovigilance systems have led to material improvements in transfusion efficiency and safety.