Overview
The Central Transfusion Registry (CTR) is a database operated by the BC Provincial Blood Coordinating Office (PBCO) and contains records of recipients who have received blood and blood products in British Columbia and the Yukon. The CTR was the first population-based transfusion registry in Canada and remains one of the largest such registries in North America since its inception in 1999.
The PBCO and its provincial stakeholders use the CTR to support transfusion medicine utilization, quality and safety initiatives. CTR utilization data supports planning, forecasting and decision making for the PBCO and its provincial partners and stakeholders. The CTR also supports surveillance tracking and facilitates notification to transfusion recipients in BC and the Yukon in the event of a problem with a blood component or a blood product. Through its Request Module, the CTR also supports coordination and processing of IVIG requests and approvals.
Data Integrity
To ensure data quality, over 140 business rules are applied to recipients and products during data import. For recipients, the business rules ensure data integrity within the CTR for patient identifiers. For products, the business rules verify facility reported products against the Canadian Blood Services lot information and existing product records in the CTR.
CTR Data Sources
The CTR captures data from many sources:
• Hospitals and clinics in BC and the Yukon - submit recipient and product data electronically to CTR on a monthly basis.
• Canadian Blood Services - provides product (component and plasma protein product) information, including lot number, dose, expiry date, and manufacturer information
• Reporting Facilities - provide surveillance information regarding transfusion reactions
• Screening Physicians - provide IVIG request / approval information
Data Elements
A full list of CTR data elements is available.
Privacy & Security
The PBCO is committed to maintaining and protecting the confidentiality and privacy of all information stored in its systems. In partnership with the regional health authority transfusion services, all reasonable measures are taken to ensure personal patient information is stored securely, treated in a confidential manner, and only available to authorized staff.
All personal information is collected as authorized under Section 26c of BC's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA).
The PBCO collects, uses and shares your information for the following purposes:
• To help plan, monitor, maintain and improve patient care and services,
• For clinical education and training,
• To conduct research with consent or as permitted by law,
• To support agencies such as the Ministry of Health, Canadian Blood Services and the Public Health Agency of Canada for strategic planning, quality improvement, performance measurement and funding allocation,
• To analyze, manage and monitor the overall patient population health, and
• As required by law (i.e. court order, reportable conditions) and as authorized by FIPPA
As a public body, the PBCO must comply with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, in terms of collection, use, retention and security of personal information. All PBCO staff and anyone using the PBCO systems must protect the information from inappropriate or unauthorized use and disclosure. Security measures include the use of frequently changed passwords, security for electronic transmission of data and physical security.
For more information, please contact
