PRINCIPLE 2 :
Reduce risk of non-compliance and out of control inventory.
THE MYTH is that when the tanks in the lab fill up, we can add another tank.
THE FACT is very few laboratories were designed and built to accommodate the number of embryos they are now storing; likewise, few inventory management programs are capable of keeping up with the extra demands of large embryo storage especially with the added regulations placed on clinics by the FDA. Adequate expansion of alarm systems, as well as floor space quickly becomes a limiting factor which negatively impacts a clinic’s ability to continue to offer safe storage. Tanks become filled with abandoned embryos, leaving less room to adequately and safely inventory and manage embryos in storage for currently active patients. This “overflow” increases the chance for errors to occur as well as increasing the general liability of storing large numbers of embryos. Computer programs built generally in Excel or Access, also quickly become out of date and unable to keep up with all the associated data. Many (if not all) of the records have been sent to off-site storage, making access to this information limited. Add on top of this the growing number of oncology patients banking their tissues for extended time periods as well as more and more young career minded women banking oocytes and/or embryos for many years and you have a storage issue which is sure to increase faster than clinics and laboratories can adapt to manage.
THE MYTH is that a clinic can provide storage for 2-5 years then require patients to find a long-term storage facility.
THE FACT is that prior to the IVF cycle and the embryos going into your tanks, you have the leverage. Once the embryos are in your tank, the patient has all of the leverage. Attempting to require patients to find alternative storage years after their cycle is minimally effective. The only surefire method of preventing abandoned embryos from accumulating in your tanks is to initiate an automatic transfer management system. Utilization of such a system requires patients to initially consent to the transfer of their embryos to a professional long term cryostorage facility after a predetermined storage period in your facility. With automatic transfer management in place, you have not only capped on site storage needs at a manageable and sensible level, but you also benefit from third-party inventory verifications and monthly compliance QA from the professional cryostorage facility.