Korean J Blood Transfus.  2002 Dec;13(2):143-148.

Survey of Blood and Blood Component Utilization at Eight University Hospitals in Korea (1999)

• Seo DH
• Kwon SY
• Kim DW
• Jeon DS
• Oh YC

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Blood utilization review in medical facilities is necessary for predicting blood demand and maintaining an efficient blood program. We investigated the use of blood components and discard rate of blood components in eight university hospitals in Korea.
METHODS
Blood component utilization including autologous blood collection in eight university hospitals on 1999 was analyzed with the co-work of its department of laboratory medicine.
RESULTS
700,686 blood component units were used at eight university hospitals investigated. Among a total of 601,262 units analyzed, the department of internal medicine used 303,843(50.5%) units and ranked first among clinical department for blood use, followed by general surgery 91,450 units, thoracic surgery 45,038 units. The cumulative number of autologous blood collected until 1999 was 6,232 units. Seven hospitals experienced rejection of reimbursement for health insurance payments and the rejection rate ranged from one to 28%.
CONCLUSIONS
This survey provides information on blood component usage in eight Korean university hospitals. A successive nationwide survey on blood utilization like this study is required for estimation of blood demand.

Keyword

Blood component use; University hospitals; Blood demand

MeSH Terms

Hospitals, University*
Insurance, Health
Internal Medicine
Korea*
Thoracic Surgery
Utilization Review