Having an adequate blood supply is of vital importance in healthcare. Organizations are using modern, innovative, collaborative ways to ensure the sustainability of their blood supply. Much of that collective effort is focused on partnering with community-based independent blood centers.
These were among the major themes during a panel discussion at Becker's 14th Annual Meeting, featuring:
- Jennifer Kapral, senior vice president, Blood Centers of America (BCA) (Warwick, R.I.)
- Theresa Pina, vice president of operations, Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center (Houston, TX)
- Kim van Antwerpen, chief operating officer, Our Blood Institute (Oklahoma City, OK)
- Deanna Cardone, U.S. marketing director, Abbott
Five key takeaways were:
- Blood supply management impacts important KPIs and hospital profitability. Having a robust blood supply ensures that blood is available when and where it's needed, enabling hospitals to provide timely procedures. While all blood centers perform critical tasks, such as supporting medical procedures and enhancing emergency preparedness, areas that independent blood centers specialize in include R&D, financial sustainability and community engagement.
"Blood banks are a foundational element of hospital operations, not only supporting the immediate needs of patient care but also contributing to broader strategic objectives that drive hospital growth and development," Ms. Kapral said.
- Growth in demand for blood is expected to continue to increase, making it extremely important to drive new donors to consider donation on a routine basis.
In the U.S., blood is needed every two seconds for surgeries, cancer patients, trauma victims, and even mothers during childbirth. The ongoing demand for blood makes it essential to engage more donors, especially younger and diverse donors. Ms. Kapral said that BCA realized it had to do something different because in the past decade BCA had lost 37% of donors under age 30.
Ms. Cardone explained that three years ago, Abbot launched the Give Blood. Get Back. Campaign to make blood donation cool and to enhance the donor experience. This led to partnering with social media stars and sharing content on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, which has built strong engagement and awareness.
- To meet the demand, some hospitals have been able to ensure that patients have platelets and that procedures are not delayed. Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center and Our Blood Institute are BCA members that have had success. Ms. Pina described how Gulf Coast has engaged donors through new marketing tactics, like texting donors when their blood has been shipped, providing a full circle experience. Gulf Coast has also improved its inventory rotation program to keep blood fresh and ensure that expirations are minimal.
At Our Blood Institute, success has resulted from efforts to improve donor retention as well as a "day in the life" initiative which shows and highlights the lifesaving impact of a blood donation.
- Independent blood centers are leveraging technology and innovation. One example is Abbott's design-thinking approach, involving collaboration with BCA to develop the first mixed reality experience for the blood donation process. "It's an immersive experience that provides a new, more relaxing way to donate blood, which encourages younger people to donate and helps those who are apprehensive about the donation process," Ms. Cardone said. This mixed reality experience was launched on World Blood Donor Day in 2023 and is being used today at more than 13 blood centers across 25 US cities.
This mixed reality experience helps decrease reported anxiety in 68% of participants in a study published in Transfusion. More than 89% of donors using mixed reality reported they were very or extremely likely to donate again. In addition, mixed reality is creating new opportunities. "With the rollout of our new mixed reality experience, we have the ability to explore new market segments, such as oncology and pediatrics, and are looking for hospitals partners to collaborate with," Ms. Kapral said.
In 2023, BCA experienced an 8% increase in high school and college-aged donors compared with the year prior.
An innovative mindset, collaboration and partnerships are critical to blood donation success. Having an innovative mindset and collaborating are critical in solving challenges. Campaigns to boost donor engagement and the mixed reality initiative are example of collaboration.
Multilateral partnerships — for example, partnerships between major hospitals and rural hospitals — can ensure that blood products are available in scenarios where more than one product is needed. "It took the Level I trauma center, the blood center and the air and ground ambulance groups to work together . . . so you get the red cells, the platelets and the plasma all at once," Ms. Van Antwerpen said. It is important for hospitals to realize that blood centers are not vendors; they are partners.
For hospital C-suite leaders who worry that their hospital is delaying procedures due to lack of blood, or for leaders who want innovative programs to ensure sustainability of blood supply, reach out to BCA to learn about opportunities and best practices.