With refinements in surgery, including minimally invasive techniques, and studies showing that transfusions are not needed in many conditions until patients have bigger drops in their hemoglobin, there has been a big drop in the need for blood transfusions. I was unaware of how much of a drop until I read this article from the NY Times: Blood Industry Shrinks
An excerpt:
Changes in medicine have eliminated the need for millions of blood transfusions, which is good news for patients getting procedures like coronary bypasses and other procedures that once required a lot of blood.
But the trend is wreaking havoc in the blood bank business, forcing a wave of mergers and job cutbacks unlike anything the industry, which became large scale after World War II, has ever seen.
Transfusions are down almost one-third over the last five years, to about 11 million units last year from about 15 million units, according to the American Red Cross, which has about 40 percent of the market. With “minimally invasive” techniques like laparoscopic surgery and other shifts in medicine, demand for blood continues to drop despite population growth and a soaring number of people over 65, who have the most surgeries requiring blood.
Blood bank revenue is falling, and the decline may reach $1.5 billion a year this year from a high of $5 billion in 2008.
Other useful points included the following:
- The decline in demand is opportune given the growing list of exclusions
- Red blood cells have a shelf life of 42 days; platelets 5 days
- While blood is donated, hospitals pay $225-240 per unit and patient may be charged ~$1000 per unit. Hospitals have been trying to lower their costs given the changes in supply and demand.
Related blog post:
gutsandgrowth 