Greetings!

Is anyone willing to share what they pay their blood supplier for a unit of red cells? I am also curious to know the size of your hospital.

Thanks!

I think contracts prohibit the answer to this question.  Under $300 at my 24 bed facility.

Prices do vary across the country. If you or your institution is an AABB member, you can access the National Blood Exchange. Blood centers or hospital collectors post inventory they are willing to share and ship. There are some that will contract a standing order. Price varies and includes shipping. I will say that we do save alot of money annually using NBE. Also, using several suppliers through NBE leaves us less vulnerable to seasonal and regional shortages.

It takes a little bit of planning and we carry a slightly larger inventory for our size, as blood is shipped overnight. We are a >500 bed incredibly busy level I trauma center.

I have to agree with David on this one.  Most contracts prevent you from sharing prices.  I'm curious, what is your motivation for this info? 

John,

Our contract is up for renewal with our blood supplier and although we have gotten the price per red cell down $12 from what we are currently paying, our CFO is pushing for more. I think we are getting a great price, but she is insistent that we do 'market research' to see what others are paying.

Thanks for the information you were able to provide.

Regards,

Amelia

I would suggest your best option would be to contact other blood suppliers and see what they are willing to do for you.  Most of us do not have the option of shopping around. 

 

I would love to get into a discussion about CFOs but I'm afraid Cliff would burn my membership so I think I'll refrain.

As I am no longer working in the lab (having left to go into industry) I will answer...

 

If memory serves, in the lab I left 3 years ago we were paying $245 for a unit of LRBC's from our local supplier. 

 

I think that the key factor is where you are located rather than the size of your institution. If there is competition for your hospital's business then your prices will be lower.  If there is not then you are pretty much stuck even if you are a large university hospital.  With ever increasing consolidation in the industry the likelihood of your being able to shop around for a supplier is slim.

 

I also think that the ability to shop around is worst at the extremes.  The small rural hospital is difficult to serve and their usage is low so there is little incentive for a blood center to negotiate on price.  Years ago when the ARC made their big price increase many rural hospitals tried to switch but the cost of servicing them was so high that many independent blood centers declined to pick them up. 

 

On the other hand, the largest of the university hospitals are so large that many blood centers cannot handle them on their own (exceptions being large networks such as the ARC and UBS).  In that case these hospitals have limited choices as to who can service their needs and they too have a limited ability to negotiate on price. 

 

Still, there are deals that can be had on the spot market. If you are large enough and can take a large shipment of blood there are some blood centers who will provide very aggressive pricing (and not demand that you take all short dates).  If your local supplier imports you can usually see where they are getting their blood from and it may be possible to contact those centers directly.  But I would caution that maintaining a good relationship with your local supplier is important.  While the institution I worked for did bring in blood from other blood centers from across the country, we made sure that we honored our commitments.  Getting a good deal for even a couple hundred units is not worth jeopardizing the relationship you have with the local blood center.

There are now a few more choices available to us.  And you do not have to do all the leg work.

AABB runs the National Blood Exchange is a clearinghouse and is open to all AABB members.

General Blood Exchange (exchange.generalblood.com) is another independent exchange started in the last few years.

Blood Buy (bloodbuy.com) has just contacted us as another possible source.  I think they are new, I don't know their track record.

 

We have been getting 99% of our blood through the AABB NBE for the past 15 years.  It takes a little bit of time to establish your routine and build up some relationships.  Currently we have standing orders with 3 suppliers and ad hoc the remainder.  We are able to flex up and down, and rarely have shortages.  We have never canceled surgeries due to a shortage. 

One caveat:  we tend to outdate more platelets than a benchmark.

 

You can start small - 10% of your needs.  See how it goes. 

We still maintain a small standing order and a contract with our local supplier.

 

We save on average $1 M annually over our local supplier.  There is money to be saved, especially if you are in an area with a single supplier.  As noted above, no competetion tends to inflate prices.

 

Worth the time and effort.

I agree with the others, most contracts do not allow you to discuss the prices you pay.  You might suggest to the CFO that someone in your organization who actually knows how to negotiate contracts help you.  That is unless you already possess this skill

 

One of our previous blood suppliers cut the cost of blood products then tacked on shipping, it was a wash when it was all said and done.

 

And as the price went down so did the service.  Lots to think about, good luck!

The number of alternative blood suppliers is gradually increasing giving any buyer of blood products access to blood supplies from all over the country.  As mentioned earlier in this section General Blood, Blood Buy, and now BiologicsDirect are all active.  You should visit their booths at the AABB convention later this month for more details.  The world of local monopoly blood centers being able to dictate  price and service to customers may be ending.  

From a UK perspective I had never realised how much time and effort is saved by having a single NHS supplier (Thankyou NHSBT) who guarantee supplies of products to hospitals however large or small at a standard price meaning I never shared your joys of shopping around or discussions with CFOs *

 

My deepest sympathies to you all for having to cope with this as well as all your other Transfusion duties

 

* One did suggest that, our hospital being in the South East of England we could perhaps obtain blood more cheaply from France ... luckily my loyal staff prevented me from entering into debate (There was language !)  and no more was ever heard on the subject.