Cost-effectiveness of new blood safety technologies

Decision analysis techniques can be used to project the health benefit obtained by commitment of a given amount of resources. Such analyses can help physicians choose approaches offering the greatest benefit with the least risk, and can help health planners direct resources to where they will provide the greatest benefit. As the risks of allogeneic transfusion continue to decline, the yield of additional safety improvements necessarily diminishes, making their cost-effectiveness astronomically poor. While society may choose to direct our efforts in this direction, the value obtained by focussing attention on these areas of minimal yield should be clarified.