transfusion utilization

ABC Newsletter -2- July 26, 2013
OUR SPACE
Matt Granato, ABC’s Executive Vice President, Operations
To Shape the Future, Get Involved
Earlier this week, the Department of Health and Human Services published the 2011 National Blood Collection
and Utilization Survey (NBCUS) Report (see page 1). The results will come as no surprise to blood
bankers: blood collections are down, driven by the decrease in demand and perhaps the increase in patient
blood management strategies. Overall, there has been about an 8 percent decrease in whole blood and red
blood cell (RBC) transfusions – echoing what ABC members have reported and similar to rates reported by
European Blood Alliance members.
Experts identify the usual causes of this trend – evidence-based conservative transfusion, the recent economic
crisis, anticipation of the new healthcare law implementation – driving hospitals to cut costs (i.e., “blood management”),
and the emergence of new medical treatments that replace blood-intensive therapies. The US
dropped from 48.8 RBCs transfused/1,000 population in 2008 to 44 RBCs/1,000 population in 2011. However,
this rate remains high compared to some of our European and Canadian colleagues. In essence, that rate
will likely continue to drop, and this means a major landscape change for US blood providers. Consolidation,
diversification, and supply chain integration are all options on the table.
Major changes for our members mean big challenges for the association. It is not ABC’s mission to “save” any
one blood center, but to collectively provide one voice and arm them with the resources that, like a digital
compass, will enable them to navigate the changing landscape with much-needed precision. ABC’s incoming
leadership will undoubtedly spend much of their time on ABC’s national advocacy agenda. With so many of
the variables impacting blood centers originating at the federal level, ABC is best positioned to speak up on
behalf of blood centers and work with partner organizations and our allies in Washington to mitigate the impact
of these policies and carve a path of certainty amid uncertain times.
Providing education and information to our members, something which ABC has succeeded in historically,
will remain critical and most likely intensify. However, in order to help shape the future of blood banking in
the US, we will not only seek out, analyze, and relay data and information, but we will also rely on the collective
brain power of our members. Now is the time to get involved, either by joining a committee, attending a
meeting or workshop, or simply responding to a survey: have your voice heard. The ABC membership profile
will likely change (a prediction at a recent meeting suggested “20 independent blood centers will be left in the
next 10 years”) but ABC’s core values of advocacy, education, and data will not. ABC will always stand by
and speak up for the independent blood program. To shape the future of blood banking – your future – I urge
you to get involved.
mgranato@americasblood.org
The ABC Newsletter (ISSN #1092-0412) is published 46 times a year by
America’s Blood Centers® and distributed by e-mail. Contents and views
expressed are not official statements of ABC or its Board of Directors.
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ABC is an association of not-for-profit, independent community blood
centers that helps its members provide excellence in transfusion medicine
and related health services. ABC provides leadership in donor advocacy,
education, national policy, quality, and safety; and in finding efficiencies
for the benefit of donors, patients, and healthcare facilities by encouraging
collaboration among blood organizations and by acting as a forum for
sharing information and best practices.
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