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Donor Experience

CSL recognises that donors and their plasma donations are an integral part of helping keep our promise to patients who depend on the life-saving therapies derived from plasma. It goes without saying that if there were no, or not enough donors willing to give their time and committed to donating their plasma, the quality of life of patients who depend on plasma-derived products would be negatively impacted.

CSL is committed to improving the donor experience, supporting donors’ holistic well-being and investing in the health equity of donor communities, because CSL recognises that it all starts with the plasma donors who make CSL’s life-saving therapies patients rely on possible.

CSL’s Donor Experience commitment

CSL’s ambition is to create best-in-class donor experience in partnership with donors and communities, by continuously innovating the donation process, supporting donors’ holistic well-being, and investing in the health equity of donor communities.
CSL’s initial goal for 2030 is to initiate new programs to promote health awareness resources, ensuring that at least 30% of donors gain access.

Furthermore, CSL intends to increase donor satisfaction survey results, utilising a new customer satisfaction methodology to be implemented and baselined in FY25.

Innovation in Plasma Donation

At the core of CSL’s efforts to provide the safest and most positive experience possible is our continued investment and commitment to innovation. As a leader in plasma collection, CSL is uniquely positioned to innovate and improve the donor experience, raising the safety and effectiveness of the collection process, improving health equity in donor communities, and ensuring that the donor is rewarded for their contribution. CSL does this by recognising that it all begins with the donors who enable the life-saving therapies that patients depend on.

Improving donor experience through individualised nomograms

A notable initiative in the donor experience focus area is the Rika Plasma Donation System™’s Individualised Nomogram, iNomi™, which will allow plasma donors to donate the right amount of plasma based on weight, height and haematocrit, while maintaining the same collection time. iNomi™ received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance. CSL Plasma’s collaboration with Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies grants CSL exclusive rights to this technology, supporting its commitment to improving the donor experience.

Improvements in targeted nomogram collections such as Nomogram A and Individualised Nomogram are important advancements that will allow CSL to safely target a donor’s collection volume. This allows more plasma from some donors, thus helping to meet the growing patient needs. Donor safety is maintained, since weight and height will be considered, for example, smaller, shorter donors will give less than they did previously, and no donor loses more plasma than the amount that is universally considered safe.

The clinical trial to support the FDA clearance showed an average 10% increase in the volume of plasma collected per donation with an average collection time of less than 35 minutes. CSL anticipates receiving the software in FY25 with validation and change control beginning at that time. CSL Plasma will then work to transition those centres already on Rika devices to iNomi, and then transitioning all centers as the Rika rollout continues.

Improving Plasma centres through Program REACH

CSL continues to focus on ways to improve and innovate the donor experience. To this end, in June 2023 Program REACH, a Centre Improvement Program, was first deployed. CSL’s plasma donation network has grown significantly over the past ten years, from ~100 to nearly 350 centres. This continued growth and success depends upon delivering a consistent donor experience as well as a workplace of choice for employees.

Program REACH aims to set the foundation for continued long-term growth, operational optimisation, and consistency and reliability across the donor and employee experience. The program focuses broadly on four areas: improving the donor experience; improving the employee experience; standardising efforts and optimising ways of working. The goal is to understand root causes of challenges, and identify and implement solutions that drive sustainable improvement across the fleet. Aligned with the CSL Values of Superior Performance, Collaboration and Patient-Focus, Program REACH focuses on fulfilling CSL’s mission to provide life-saving medicine through plasma-derived therapies to patients in need.

Plasma Donations and Donors

CSL Plasma donors come from an array of different cultures, backgrounds and walks of life. Many know someone who depends on plasma products for their health and wellbeing and in some cases for life itself.

Our ability to supply life-enhancing and often life-saving therapies is only made possible by ensuring a safe, quality and positive donor experience. All our centres operate to the same standards for the management and care of plasma donors.

Donor Assessment

In the U.S. and Europe, where CSL Plasma centres operate, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) require rigorous donor suitability assessments to be undertaken before plasma is donated. The assessment serves a dual purpose, ensuring that plasma is collected from a healthy donor and that the donor’s health will not be jeopardised by the plasma donation. Outcomes of an assessment are shared with the donor. Donors who are not suitable are deferred, and the reason for the deferral and its implications are clearly explained. For first-time donors, special care is undertaken to explain the benefits and potential risks of plasma donation. First-time donors also receive, review and agree to the Plasmapheresis Informed Consent, which includes detail regarding laboratory testing, data privacy, potential discomforts and risks, the purpose of plasma donation and additional information important to plasma donation. Potential donors can also review information about eligibility criteria online at the CSL Plasma website prior to making a donation or visiting a centre. The donor assessment process requires the collection of pertinent personal information. Across all CSL Plasma centres, systems are in place to protect donor confidentiality and privacy.

The Donation

Donors are monitored by fully qualified personnel at all times during the plasma donation procedure. All efforts are made to ensure donors are comfortable and relaxed during the process. Following a plasma donation, donors remain rested and some of the fluids lost during the donated process is replaced with saline.

At any point in time, donors are welcomed and encouraged to contact CSL Plasma customer service and the centre if they have any questions or concerns about their donation and the experience. Adverse events reported by donors are monitored by CSL Plasma’s Medical Affairs group. Ongoing monitoring helps to identify any trends and support the implementation of action plans, if necessary.

CSL Plasma adheres to donation limits defined by applicable regulations. We use both medical examinations and laboratory tests to test the suitability of donors to make a donation prior to every single donation. If they fail, they are not able to donate. This process is monitored through our electronic Donor Management System and underpinned by our Quality Assurance processes. In addition, the plasma collection industry has processes in place, such as the Cross Donation Check System (CDCS), that ensure a donor does not donate more frequently than is allowed under the applicable regulations.

Donor Feedback

Plasma donors can provide feedback, including complaints, either directly to the individual centres or via CSL Plasma’s customer service hub, which supports phone, web, text, chat and social media inquiries. Additionally, donor surveys are performed to listen to and monitor donor feedback, and actions are taken to improve when trends are identified. Currently, the rate of donor complaints is very low compared to the rate of yearly donations.

Employee Training

Our employees are instrumental to delivering on our promise. Employees must meet mandatory qualifications for their specified roles and undergo competency-based training that is specific for their position. Experienced personnel and subject matter experts evaluate a trainee’s performance before they undertake any work independently.

Plasma P.A.L.S. Program

CSL is passionate about the customers we serve, including plasma donors and patients. Taking a patient perspective in everything we do is critically important to us and our stakeholders. Patient stories are prominently displayed in our centres, helping to reinforce with donors and employees the impact we can make. Through our Plasma P.A.L.S. (Patients and Lifesavers) programme, many of our centres have also developed relationships with patients who periodically visit to share with CSL employees and donors their experience and to thank them for their contributions. While motivating both employees and donors, patients also learn about the plasma donation process and standards used to collect the safest, highest-quality plasma.