Cost of allogenic blood management in Germany: A literature and expert interview - based investigation

Abstract

ackground: Transfusion of allogeneic blood are widely utilized in the management of medical and surgical procedures; these is sometimes underestimated in prospect of the cost and overestimated in terms of its effectiveness. Incomplete accounting for blood costs has the potential to misdirect programmatic decision making by health care systems. Hence, the aim of this study was to an in-depth examination of allogeneic blood transfusion costs and evaluation of finite resources consumption for quality treatment in Germany. Methods: In this prospective study, literature search aims to understand the current cost of allogeneic blood transfusion. Secondary data source information is a comprehensive practical analysis, which helps to understand the current supply of blood products to complement the theoretical knowledge. Semi-structured experts´ interview strives to integrate the expertise in the current practice of blood transfusion management and their resources used on the ground level with possible solutions for the future. Meanwhile, all methods give us an insight into the costs and resources used in allogeneic blood transfusions past, present and future in Germany. Results: The present analysis captures direct and indirect cost of a single unit of blood transfused in Germany and cost of single & double unit of blood transfused in Europe. The mean cost per two unit of transfused blood in Europe is €888.56. In Germany, the mean direct allogeneic blood unit cost was estimated at €272.71 and the mean indirect cost and opportunity cost per unit of blood transfusion was estimated at €33.20 and €62.00 respectively. Finally, the total cost of the whole blood transfusion process in terms of government perspectives was estimated around €1.18 billion in 2011, but it decreased to €0.98 billion in 2015. Conclusion: Findings of this study confirms that blood transfusion costs have been undervalued and demonstrates best practice of allogeneic blood management that appears strongly aligned to cost savings and quality treatment which may further assist the decision makers like legislators, policy makers, and other healthcare professionals. Eventually, the chosen research design and methods can be drawn out further to improve the results with more detailed analysis. Key words: Allogeneic blood transfusion, Activity based cost, Direct cost, Indirect cost, Resource allocation, Blood product supply.