Blood transfusion costs by diagnosis-related groups in 60 university hospitals in 1995

Transfusion services are frequently challenged to initiate efforts to reduce blood transfusion costs. One approach is to analyze blood transfusion costs for individual medical and surgical Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRGs). Rank ordering of DRGs by transfusion costs and interinstitutional comparisons of these costs may lead to the selection of DRGs for further analysis of the process of blood transfusion.

Common DRGs (n = 486) that were related to discharges in 1995 were analyzed from 60 university hospital members of the University HealthSystems Consortium (UHC). Cost data were tabulated by using cost-to-charge ratios reflecting all aspects of blood transfusion-related costs of participating institutions.

Of these 486 DRGs, 471 had identifiable mean blood costs, and 34 had median blood costs, mostly for surgical conditions. Transfusion costs represented a small proportion (< or = 1%) of total hospitalization costs for most DRGS: Nonetheless, millions of dollars were spent on blood transfusion, and for the most expensive DRGs, the costs ranged from 5.0 to 8.6 percent of total hospitalization costs. Transfusion costs are more variable for the DRGs with the lowest transfusion costs than for those with the highest transfusion costs.

Members of the UHC may utilize such analyses to identify surgical or medical diagnoses with transfusion costs at variance with the group norm. These DRGs could then be targeted for further evaluation of components contributing to high costs, for possible alterations in physician or clinical laboratory practices. Considering those conditions with the highest cumulative transfusion costs (e.g., BMT, liver transplant, acute leukemia, and cardiothoracic procedures), changes in transfusion practices that affect these particular patient categories may have a significant impact on global blood transfusion costs.