AABB2025: More Aggressive Measures May Be Needed to Further Reduce Wastage of Blood Products

With tightened budgets, ensuring reduced wastage of blood products is of the utmost importance. To explore every opportunity to reduce wastage, “it is crucial to review past performance, understand clinical needs and forecast expenses,” said Jessica Jacobson, MD, from New York City Health and Hospitals System. Jacobson presented findings on blood product budget management across her hospital network during the “New Insights to Patient Blood Management” oral abstract session on Saturday afternoon.

Jacobson and her colleagues conducted research to determine if blood banks could achieve budget-neutral targets through improved inventory management and patient blood management practices. Their retrospective analysis examined red cell and platelet purchases, transfusions, and waste across all 11 hospitals in the New York City Health and Hospitals System from 2020 to 2024. Pretransfusion hemoglobin levels and platelet counts served as surrogates for transfusion appropriateness assessment.

Despite achieving a 3.5% decrease in discards and improved transfusion appropriateness, the budget-neutral target proved unattainable. Jacobson explained that contributing factors included higher clinical demand from sicker patients and inflation affecting blood acquisition costs, labor, reagents and transportation. Total spending increased nearly 20% from $12.8 million in 2020 to $15.3 million in 2024.

Jacobson said additional efforts may be needed, especially with increased prices on the horizon. “With the 6.2% contractual price increase for blood products in the next fiscal year, more aggressive measures to further reduce wastage and assure transfusion appropriateness will be required to meet our budget neutral target,” she said.