A Patient Blood Management programme was established at the University Hospital of Zurich, along with a monitoring and feedback programme, at the beginning of 2014 with a first analysis reported in 2015. Our study aimed to investigate the further impact of this Patient Blood Management monitoring and feedback programme on transfusion requirements and related costs. We included adult patients discharged between 2012 and 2017. A total of 213,882 patients underwent analysis: 66,659 patients in the baseline period (2012-2013); 35,309 patients in the year after the introduction of the Patient Blood Management monitoring and feedback programme (2014) and 111,914 patients in the continued sustainability period (2015-2017). The introduction of the Patient Blood Management monitoring and feedback programme reduced allogeneic blood product transfusions by 35%, from 825 units per 1000 hospital discharges in 2012 to 536 units in 2017. The most sustained effect was an approximately 40% reduction in red blood cell transfusions, from 535 per 1000 discharges to 319 units. Fewer patients were transfused in the periods after the introduction of the Patient Blood Management monitoring and feedback programme (6251 (9.4%) vs. 2932 (8.3%) vs. 8196 (7.3%); p < 0.001). Compared with 2012, the yearly OR for being exposed to any blood transfusion declined steadily after the introduction of the Patient Blood Management monitoring and feedback programme to 0.64 (95%CI 0.61-0.68; p < 0.001) in 2017. For patients requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, transfusion requirements were also sustainably reduced. This reduction in allogeneic blood transfusions led to savings of 12,713,754 Swiss francs (£ 9,497,000 sterling; EUR 11,100,000; US$ 12,440,000) in blood product acquisition costs over 4 years. In-hospital mortality was not affected by the programme. The Patient Blood Management monitoring and feedback programme sustainably reduced transfusion requirements and related costs, without affecting in-hospital mortality.
Keywords: Patient Blood Management; adverse outcomes, mortality; allogeneic transfusion; healthcare costs; patient outcomes, monitoring.
© 2019 Association of Anaesthetists.