Budget Impact Analysis of Implementing Patient Blood Management in the Cardiovascular Surgery Department of a Turkish Private Hospital

Purpose: In cardiovascular surgeries, iron deficiency anemia and transfusion of blood products are associated with mortality and morbidity, prolonged hospital stay and poor patient outcomes. Patient blood management (PBM) is a patient-centered approach based on a 'three pillar' model that promotes optimum use of blood and blood products to improve outcomes. This study assessed the potential budget impact of implementing PBM in patients undergoing elective cardiovascular surgery in a private hospital in Turkey. Methods: Two models were developed to estimate the hospital budget impact of PBM. The first model encompassed implementation of the first pillar of PBM, which proposes treatment of iron deficiency anemia before a surgical procedure. The second covered implementation of all three pillars of PBM. Budget impact was estimated from the number of avoided complications after treating iron deficiency anemia and reducing blood transfusions. Rates of complication (sepsis, myocardial infarction, renal failure and stroke) with and without PBM were taken from published meta-analyses. Data on 882 cardiovascular operations performed during 2020-2022 were taken from the Florence Nightingale Istanbul Hospital. The costs of treating complications were estimated by applying Turkish Social Security Institution prices to a healthcare resource utilization tool for each complication completed by experts. Results: Results from the budget impact analysis showed that, by implementing the first pillar of PBM, the department could have avoided 30 complications and saved 4,189,802 TRY. For the second model based on implementing all three pillars of PBM, 29 complications could have been avoided by reducing the number of transfusions, with budget savings of 6,174,434 TRY. Reducing the length of hospital stay could have enabled 137 additional operations in the given period. Conclusion: Implementation of PBM in patients undergoing elective cardiovascular surgery in private hospitals could be a budget- saving strategy in Turkey and may provide an opportunity to increase revenue.