Donating Blood? There's an App for That

by Mary Ann Barton

Donating blood? Now there's an app for that in Northern Virginia. A local blood collection agency, Inova Blood Donor Services (IBDS) has teamed up with Tysons-based startup Blood Donor Mobile, to launch a mobile app for its blood donor community on both the Apple iTunes and Google Play app stores, they announced today.

The app, named Inova Blood Donor, was developed specifically for the Inova Blood Donor Services donor community, according to a news release. The app strives to make it easy for new and existing blood donors to be engaged in their lifesaving voluntary donations.

Inova Blood Donor Services is the largest hospital-based blood-collection operation in the nation. IBDS supplies lifesaving blood and blood products to 24 different hospitals in Northern Virginia and the Washington, DC, metro area. 

The Inova Blood Donor app allows users to:

• Set reminders for when they’re eligible to donate again
• Search for blood drives by location or date
• Easily access the online portal to book and manage appointments
• Share their donation experience on social media
• Get in touch with Inova Blood Donor Services
• Keep up to date with the latest Inova Blood Donor Services news and events

“We’re always looking into new ways to use technology to help give our donors the most convenient blood donation experience possible," said Terri Craddock, Director of Inova Blood Donor Services.

"It seems like every blood donor at our drives has a needle in one arm and their cell phone in the opposite hand," Craddock said. "This app is an easy way for our donor community to interact with us, and vice versa.” 

“As a hospital system we strive to provide our patient community with tools and information in whatever manner is most convenient for them," said Rob Birgfeld, director of Digital Marketing for Inova Health System. "Mobile is an area of intense focus for us and we’re excited to add Inova Blood Donor to our communication repertoire.” 

One donor shared, during a sneak peek event at a National blood drive in August: “It makes it much easier to track my donations, remind me when I’m eligible to donate again and find a blood drive that’s convenient. Honestly I’m surprised something like this didn’t already exist.” 

“We’re just very excited to be able to partner with Inova Blood Donor Services to launch this app and share it with our fellow blood donors.” said Chris Yoko, founder of Blood Donor Mobile.

IBDS will hold a multiple site launch party at their blood donor centers in Annandale, Centreville and Dulles, encouraging blood donation and app installation at the event. Refreshments and free T-shirts will be part of the launch.

Donate Blood

Thursday, Nov. 14

Donor Center Hours (more information on locations/addresses here):

CentreMed:      Noon to 8 p.m.
Dulles:            10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (SPECIAL HOURS)
Woodburn        10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

To schedule an appointment, call 1-866-BLOODSAVES or book your appointment online at inova.org/donateblood. You can learn more about the app, or download it at www.InovaBlood.com.