U.S. Blood Collection System Faces Multiple Threats
Less-invasive surgeries and new drugs have staunched demand, but more government oversight is needed to safeguard the supply of blood to hospitals.
The nation’s blood collection system may require more rigorous government oversight to protect the blood supply from shortages and health risks, a new RAND Corporation study says.
“The U.S. blood system operates effectively, but it is in a state of flux and uncertainty,” Andrew Mulcahy, lead author of the study and a policy researcher at RAND, said in comments accompanying the study.
“Financial pressures, changes in healthcare practice and technology, and the emergence of external threats such as the Zika virus are pressuring the system and may potentially threaten the available supply of blood,” Mulcahy said. “We need a better, more-efficient and more-sustainable system.”
Medical advances such as less-invasive surgeries and new drugs have decreased the demand for blood during the past decade. However, the size of the blood collection and distribution system has decreased only slightly, according to the RAND study.
At the same time, hospital consolidation has given larger hospitals a leg up in negotiating for lower blood prices. The result has been increased competition among blood centers that has led to falling prices for blood, which slices into blood centers’ already thin margins and revenue.