Tracking Blood Product Wastage over a 6-year Period in Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center

Abstract Introduction/Objective Blood transfusions are a necessary practice for hospital emergency and surgical department. In emergent situations, blood components are in unmonitored settings during transit of critically ill patients. Any unused blood products are returned to the blood banks outside of a controlled temperature environment and are no longer viable to use. This study seeks to collect the average amount of blood products wasted in the Emergency and Surgery Department at Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) Main Hospital. In addition, the study intends to highlight the budget that is impacted by these wasted blood units. Methods/Case Report Emergency Stock Records of VCU’s Hospital Emergency Department, Operating Room, Children’s Hospital of Richmond’s (CHoR) Emergency Department, and the CHoR’s Operating Room were collected and accumulated by the Transfusion Service’s Quality Assurance Coordinator. VCU’s Main Hospital Emergency Department monitors blood unit viability with a sensitive temperature indicator on each unit of blood stored in unmonitored refrigerators. Blood units above 10 degrees Celsius trigger the indicator and are required to be discarded. Our study collected a tally of these discarded units due to a triggered temperature indicator from 2018 to 2023. Acquisition cost per blood unit was estimated to be approximately $250 and overhead cost per unit was estimated to be $760. Results (if a Case Study enter NA) From 2018 to 2023, VCU’s health system wasted an average of 89.16 blood units per year due to the triggered temperature indicators, with a total of 535 units wasted over six years. The average annual cost of the wasted units totaled $90,058.33 per year ($22,291.67 and $67,766.67 in acquisition and overhead costs, respectively); cumulative cost over the 6 years amounted to $540,350 ($133,750 and $406,600 in acquisition and overhead costs, respectively). Conclusion With a notable number of resources and funding lost in the process due to blood unit wastage, an administrative discussion should focus on the use of high-level remote- controlled automated refrigerators in lieu of manual temperature indicator to reduce the expenditure and wastage of blood products.