A blood bank is a cache or bank of blood or blood components, gathered as a result of blood donation, stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "Blood bank" typically refers to a division of a hospital laboratory where the storage of blood product occurs and where proper testing is performed to reduce the risk of transfusion related events. This includes compatibility testing for transfusion and may include blood donation processing, depending on the capabilities of the facility.Most hospital blood banks also perform testing to determine the blood type of patients and to identify compatible blood products for blood transfusions, along with a battery of tests and treatments to ensure and enhance quality. Some such procedures can be done "upstream" by the collecting agency, or a contracted laboratory. The increasingly-recognized problem of inadequate efficacy of transfusion and post-transfusion complications raises the importance of quality testing and screening; U.S. hospitals spend more on dealing with the consequences of transfusion-related complications than on the combined costs of buying, testing/treating, and transfusing their blood.
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