[Costs of delivering allogenic blood in hospitals]

In clinical practice there are medical and economic reasons against the thoughtless use of packed red blood cells (rbc). Therefore, in searching for alternatives (therapy of anemia) the total costs of allogeneic blood transfusions must be considered. Using a practical example this article depicts the actual costs and possible alternatives from the point of view of a hospital in Germany.

To determine the total costs of allogeneic blood transfusions the actual resource consumption associated with blood transfusions was collated and analyzed at the St. Marien-Hospital in Vechta.

The authors were able to show that the actual procurement costs (average. 97 EUR) represent only 55  % of the total costs of 176 EUR. The additional expenses are allocated to personnel (78  %) and materials (22  %). Alternatives, such as i.v. iron substitution or stimulation of erythropoesis might be the more economical solution especially if only purchase prices are compared and the total costs of allogeneic blood transfusions are not considered.

Analyzing a single hospital limits generalization of the results; however, in the international context the results can be recognized as plausible. So far there have been no comprehensive studies on the true costs of blood preparations, therefore, this article represents a first starting point for closing this gap by conducting additional studies.