ZKRD Operations
The ZKRD employs staff with various qualifications and expertise to cope with the diverse and complex tasks involved in searching for a stem cell donor. Together, they form a great team, working tirelessly to give patients hope of a new life. Our employees are the lifeblood of the ZKRD. Without their commitment, capabilities and enthusiasm, we would not be where we are today as a non-profit organization. A total of around 60 motivated specialists are involved in our operations, ensuring that the search for stem cell donors runs smoothly, successfully, and with speed.
Search and Transplantation Service
The team at the Search and Transplantation Service coordinates the entire process from search request to stem cell transplantation. This includes, among other things, searching for unrelated blood stem cell donors and responding to requests for suitable donors from search centers and transplant centers in Germany and abroad. In addition, the team helps coordinate the preparations for blood stem cell collection and is responsible for ensuring compliance with safety standards. The Search and Transplantation Service team also acts as an adviser to our partners.
Transport Product Service
The Transport Product Service team coordinates and organizes the transportation of stem cell products from peripheral blood or bone marrow and donor lymphocytes from unrelated donors. The team is also responsible for registering the stem cell couriers with the customs office and airport security, as well as guaranteeing safe and reliable handling of the process. Naturally, they also advise our partners on all related matters.
Finance and Billing Service
The Finance and Billing Service firstly clarifies the question of costs with the respective national payers under the respective insurance terms. This helps in initiating a donor search for German patients – saving all those involved, but especially the patient, a lot of time and effort. Subsequently, the ZKRD handles the payment and billing of all patient-related services, from donor search to transplantation. The processes include additional services such as donor insurance or product liability insurance, and the activities of the Transport Product Service.
Information Technology
The main task of the IT team in terms of development is not only to maintain the information and communication software at the ZKRD but also to enhance and/or newly develop its components. The ZKRD’s own OptiMatch® matching software is especially important here, and in terms of performance and flexibility is far more advanced than all other comparable programs available worldwide. The IT service team is responsible for smooth operations, national and international data exchange, and the design of the IT infrastructure and IT services of the ZKRD. With respect to support, our IT colleagues deal with questions from our partners concerning the programs and interfaces developed at the ZKRD. They also support our employees internally with any hardware or software issues.
Quality Management
The Quality Management team at the ZKRD is responsible for establishing an environment and processes that guarantee the quality of the products and services supplied to patients and serve to protect donors. In this regard, the team ensures that the ZKRD meets the requirements of DIN EN ISO 9001 and, together with our partners, implements the standards of the worldwide umbrella organization, the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA). Continuously developing the German standards for unrelated blood stem cell donation is also part of this work.
Human Resources
The activities of the Human Resources team include handling and organizing all employee-related administrative tasks – from joining to leaving the organization. Another important element is personnel development. In addition to recruitment, this also includes trainee support, continuing professional development and health management. Last but not least, this is where the threads for creating family-friendly, future-proof workplaces are woven together.
Office Management
Office Management is the first port of call for inquiries from doctors, individuals and institutions relating to stem cell transplantation. The team is responsible for answering or forwarding letters, e‑mails and calls from home and abroad. In addition, they handle administrative tasks for their colleagues in other departments so that the latter can concentrate on their primary role of searching for unrelated donors.
Public Relations
The goal of PR at the ZKRD is to present information about the processes from donor search to transplantation in a comprehensible and transparent manner. Interested parties thus receive comprehensive information about all aspects of the donor search. The PR team is therefore responsible not only for issuing regular press releases and talking with journalists, but also for preparing informational brochures, annual reports and articles for the ZKRD website.
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