DESIGNATED BLOOD DONATION

Test Code

DES

Alias/See Also

Directed Blood Donation

Includes

For directed blood donation, blood donation is made with the intention of meeting the blood transfusion needs of a specific patient. Included are ABO group; Rh type; antibody screen; crossmatch; current pretransfusion disease testing (see Blood Donation); donor questionnaire; check of donor hematocrit, temperature, and blood pressure.

Preferred Specimen

Pink Tube (EDTA)

Patient Preparation
For directed blood donation, blood donation is made with the intention of meeting the blood transfusion needs of a specific patient. Included are ABO group; Rh type; antibody screen; crossmatch; current pretransfusion disease testing (see Blood Donation); donor questionnaire; check of donor hematocrit, temperature, and blood pressure.

Designated donations must be made at least 3 working days but not more than twelve business days (excluding Sundays and holidays) prior to the patient's anticipated transfusion date. This allows sufficient time for blood collection, processing, testing, and delivery. Donor should have a light meal prior to donation, no alcoholic beverages for 12 hours prior, and be in generally good health. For certain hazardous occupations, activities are restricted for 24 hours.

"Physician Order for Directed Donations" - after the order is received, the patient or designee should call the Red Cross at 1 (800) 733-2767 to schedule the appointment. All designated blood donors must meet all the standard blood donor criteria and sign the consent to be a designated donor. Pretesting of qualified designated donors to verify ABO group, Rh type, or crossmatch compatibility with the requesting patient will not be performed by the Blood Bank. To cover the expenses of staff and special handling, a surcharge for each designated donor drawn will be levied and passed along to the recipient's hospital bill. The surcharge will apply whether or not the unit is used by the designated patient. Designated donor units will be held for the designated patient for a maximum of 7 days, after which time they will enter the random donor pool.

Minimum Volume

1mL (6mL optimal)

Other Acceptable Specimens

Lavender Tube (EDTA)

Instructions

The specimen must be labeled at the patient bedside and have two labels: Barcode label with date, accession number, patient name (last, first), medical records number, and test mnemonic Red label from wristband with patient name, medical records number, time, date, and phlebotomist mnemonic A red wristband containing patient name, medical records number, time, date, and phlebotomist mnemonic must be put on patient's wrist by person drawing specimen before leaving the bedside. An ABO confirmation sample must be drawn upon request by the Blood Bank

Transport Container

Transport Temperature

Room Temperature

Specimen Stability

Blood <72 hours old

Reject Criteria (Eg, hemolysis? Lipemia? Thaw/Other?)

Anemia; hypo-/hypertension; history (or positive serology) of hepatitis; positive syphilis serology; travel to malaria endemic areas; some drug therapies; fever; hypertension; lymphadenopathy; Kaposi sarcoma and other malignancies. Prospective donors receive information urging those at high risk for AIDS to defer themselves.

Setup Schedule

Designated donations must be made at least 3 working days but not more than twelve business days (excluding Sundays and holidays) prior to the patient's anticipated transfusion date. This allows sufficient time for blood collection, processing, testing, and delivery. Donor should have a light meal prior to donation, no alcoholic beverages for 12 hours prior, and be in generally good health. For certain hazardous occupations, activities are restricted for 24 hours.

Report Available

3 working days

Limitations

Blood may be donated only once per 8 weeks. Donor should have had no major operation within 6 months or pregnancy within 6 weeks prior to donation.

Clinical Significance

The Blood Bank and national blood banking organizations do not encourage the use of designated blood donation because, to date, there is no scientific evidence that blood from designated donors is any safer than that available from routine volunteer donors. As with any blood or blood component transfused, possible complications include risks of transfusion-transmitted infectious diseases.

Performing Laboratory
Mount Sinai Hospital
Holy Cross Hospital

The CPT Codes provided in this document are based on AMA guidelines and are for informational purposes only. CPT coding is the sole responsibility of the billing party. Please direct any questions regarding coding to the payor being billed. Any Profile/panel component may be ordered separately. Reflex tests are performed at an additional charge.