Financial cost of whole blood and blood component disposals in a Brazilian coordinating blood center.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To describe the reasons for the disposal of blood in the coordinating blood center of the State of Paraná and to estimate the financial costs resulting from potentially avoidable discards. METHOD: A descriptive, retrospective and documentary analysis, with data related to the period from 2010 to 2015 of a Brazilian coordinating blood center collected from a governmental database and analyzed by descriptive statistics. This study was approved by the Ethics Research Committee (CAEE 63074916.0.0000.5225). RESULTS: 101,813 units were discarded, representing 22.3% of the total of 455,684 produced; plasma was the most discharged blood component. The main reason for discarding was lipemia (35.8%); the analysis showed that 56.9% of the disposals were considered potentially avoidable with an estimated paid value of approximately US$2 million. CONCLUSION: The expressive potential of avoidance of disposal of blood units and blood components highlights the importance of planning actions aiming at their best use, contributing to the reduction of amounts paid for these processes.