Measuring & Stopping Hidden Costs of Coronary Bypas Surgery
Measuring & Stopping Hidden Costs of Coronary Bypas Surgery
Purpose: Blood conservation programs have been successfully implemented in hospitals in which an overarching commitment to the reduction of the number of blood transfusions existed. This review will describe the rationale and some of the considerations involved in starting such a program.
Summary: Management of a hospital's blood supply is a high pressure area dominated by a resource shortage, increasing costs, a medical community that has been trained to use transfusion, public awareness and concern, and to a lesser extent an increasing body of evidence suggesting that transfusions are often deleterious. The implementation of new techniques and protocols to conserve blood during surgery can be facilitated if a physician champion addresses the medical staff and the hospital administrators clear political and budgetary issues. With a team approach and an understanding of the clinical and economic evidence supporting less blood use, many of the hurdles can be overcome.
Conclusion: Blood conservation programs offer a solution to the multiple problems that surround blood use. When successfully implemented, such initiatives reduce safety concerns, hospital spending, and the dependency of hospitals on the national blood supply and improve clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction.
The responsibilities of a hospital chief executive officer (CEO) include managing the financial performance of the hospital while addressing competitive threats from other hospitals, liability issues, regulatory compliance, and public and staff relations. Ensuring the quality of clinical practices, patient safety, patient satisfaction, and the availability of blood products are also essential responsibilities.
Management of the blood supply is a high pressure area dominated by a supply shortage, increasing costs, a medical community that has been trained to resort to transfusion, public awareness and concern, and, to a lesser extent, an increasing body of evidence suggesting that transfusions are often deleterious. Despite newspaper headlines such as "safety not assured," "supplies going down," "prices going up," and "fears run high" that have highlighted the concerns about the United States (U.S.) blood supply and created public awareness, the U.S. is not effectively managing its blood supply. In many institutions, elective surgeries have been cancelled due to blood shortages. In addition, the U.S. is not prepared to handle a large scale medical emergency that would require significant blood use.
Purpose: Blood conservation programs have been successfully implemented in hospitals in which an overarching commitment to the reduction of the number of blood transfusions existed. This review will describe the rationale and some of the considerations involved in starting such a program.
Summary: Management of a hospital's blood supply is a high pressure area dominated by a resource shortage, increasing costs, a medical community that has been trained to use transfusion, public awareness and concern, and to a lesser extent an increasing body of evidence suggesting that transfusions are often deleterious. The implementation of new techniques and protocols to conserve blood during surgery can be facilitated if a physician champion addresses the medical staff and the hospital administrators clear political and budgetary issues. With a team approach and an understanding of the clinical and economic evidence supporting less blood use, many of the hurdles can be overcome.
Conclusion: Blood conservation programs offer a solution to the multiple problems that surround blood use. When successfully implemented, such initiatives reduce safety concerns, hospital spending, and the dependency of hospitals on the national blood supply and improve clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction.
The responsibilities of a hospital chief executive officer (CEO) include managing the financial performance of the hospital while addressing competitive threats from other hospitals, liability issues, regulatory compliance, and public and staff relations. Ensuring the quality of clinical practices, patient safety, patient satisfaction, and the availability of blood products are also essential responsibilities.
Management of the blood supply is a high pressure area dominated by a supply shortage, increasing costs, a medical community that has been trained to resort to transfusion, public awareness and concern, and, to a lesser extent, an increasing body of evidence suggesting that transfusions are often deleterious. Despite newspaper headlines such as "safety not assured," "supplies going down," "prices going up," and "fears run high" that have highlighted the concerns about the United States (U.S.) blood supply and created public awareness, the U.S. is not effectively managing its blood supply. In many institutions, elective surgeries have been cancelled due to blood shortages. In addition, the U.S. is not prepared to handle a large scale medical emergency that would require significant blood use.
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