A recent micro-costing study in the United Kingdom suggests administration costs are high for blood transfusions. Researchers collected detailed data on key inputs for blood transfusions for all laboratory supplies and staff time, including all laboratory personal and nurses at two large hospitals in Oxford and Reading. The cost of wasted blood products was also examined in the study. The mean costs per unit for administering transfusions to a patient on a regular day-unit ward were $71 for RBCs, $84 for platelets, $55 for fresh-frozen plasma, and $72 for cryoprecipitate. For each blood component, the administration costs for the first unit transfused exceeded administration costs for subsequent units for the same patient. Further costing studies are needed from other hospitals and countries to best determine how to efficiently use and administer blood products.
References:
- Stokes EA, Wordsworth S, Staves J, Mundy N, Skelly J, Radford K, and SJ Stanworth. Accurate costs for blood transfusion: a microcosting of administering blood products in the United Kingdom National Health Service. Transfusion 2018
- Cataife G and MB Pagano. How much does a blood transfusion cost? Transfusion 2018
