Patient Blood Management (PBM) might ring a bell if you work in a healthcare setting. In layman’s terms, Patient Blood Management is a patient-centered, organized approach in which the healthcare team coordinates efforts to improve patient outcomes by managing and preserving a patient’s blood. Patients receive highly individualized care, and their blood is treated as a vital organ.
With an ongoing national blood shortage, it’s time to work together to make PBM a standard of care in all American hospitals. Managing critically ill patients without blood transfusion is achievable using multi-modal approaches and new technologies. Nonetheless, the adoption of Patient Blood Management in the United States lags. As a result, the U.S. has about 1.5 days of blood supply available on the shelf based on current demand. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom, have weeks of blood available.
Practicing Patient Blood Management is the best way to improve patient care, conserve scarce domestic blood supply, and reduce shortages. Global health organizations have reached similar conclusions. In 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for healthcare systems worldwide to implement Patient Blood Management as a standard of care.
Here are four reasons hospitals must embrace Patient Blood Management given the current national blood shortage:
Blood Shortages Are Increasingly Common
The American Red Cross declared a national blood shortage on September 11, citing a critically low blood supply level that dropped nearly 25% since early August 2023. The Red Cross has seen a boost in donations since asking for help, but more is required. The organization estimates they must collect 10,000 additional blood products weekly over a month for the blood supply to reach sufficient levels and meet hospital and patient needs. A boost in donations might get the Red Cross out of this pinch. Nonetheless, this vicious cycle will continue without the implementation of Patient Blood Management. The COVID-19 pandemic taxed hospital blood supplies for an extended period. Blood supplies can be preserved for acute care needs, and shortages will become a distant memory if hospitals embrace PBM.
Blood Transfusions Are Often Unnecessary
Comprehensive Patient Blood Management regards blood as a vital organ. PBM helps give blood only to those who need it. Most patients — the vast majority of people receiving blood transfusions (roughly 60-80%) — can be managed without transfusion. More importantly, over-transfusions are linked to higher mortality rates. There are times when transfusion is necessary: for example, massive trauma in the civilian and military patient populations or major surgical procedures, such as liver or heart transplants.
Patients Do Better with Testing in Surgery
Hospital stays are stressful and challenging. Patient-centered care such as PBM helps patients have fewer worries, more successful procedures, and shorter hospital stays.
An essential component of Patient Blood Management is minimizing and managing blood loss. Better testing methods are needed in acute bleeding management surgical situations, such as bedside tests detailing hemostasis (a physiological mechanism that stops bleeding). Better testing before a medical procedure ensures the physicians are equipped with the right information to care for patients, reducing risk factors and improving care. Testing ensures patients only get the right amount of blood they need and not a drop more. Eventually, improved testing can lead to bloodless surgeries in many cases, which is ideal for everyone.
Patient Blood Management Is Better Business
Hospitals are under incredible economic stress. Cash shortages are still a problem. In California, more than half of hospitals lose money every day caring for patients. Blood products costs are about 1-2% of a hospital’s budget, and blood acquisition remains the most significant expense for hospital blood banks. Hospitals will need to make many systemic changes to fix these problems. However, there is little doubt that Patient Blood Management can make a meaningful difference in cost savings and ultimately improve care. Studies have proven that Patient Blood Management improves patient outcomes, reduces blood product utilization, and saves costs.
Making Patient Blood Management a standard of care will require a hospital-by-hospital, physician-by-physician effort. Hospital administrators, clinicians, and public health officials who work together to embrace PBM will help blood shortages become a thing of the past, and patients will receive the best possible care. Every drop counts. Patient blood management is the best way to prevent another blood crisis.
About the author
Francesco Viola, PhD Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, HemoSonics, has more than 10 years of experience in the area of medical ultrasound imaging, advanced signal processing and development of medical instrumentation. Viola has published his research in numerous engineering and biomedical peer-reviewed journals and he is the co-inventor in a number of patents in the field of ultrasound imaging and sensing. He is also the first recipient of The Emerging Technologies and Healthcare Innovations Congress (TETHIC) Award for achievements in scholarship and contributions to healthcare technology translation. Viola holds a Laurea in Biomedical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy, and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Virginia.
