Cost-Effectiveness and Budget Impact of Comprehensive Anemia Management, The First Pillar of Patient Blood Management, on the Turkish Healthcare System

Purpose: Patient blood management (PBM) is a patient-centered, evidence-based, multidisciplinary approach aimed at optimizing hemoglobin concentration, ensuring the continuity of hemostasis and minimizing blood loss in patients undergoing surgery. The aims of this study were: (1) to explore the cost-effectiveness of comprehensive anemia management, the first pillar of PBM, in non-cardiac and cardiac surgery from the Turkish Social Security Institution’s (SSI’s) perspective; and (2) to explore the potential budget impact of PBM for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and hip and knee arthroplasty to the SSI. Methods: Cost-effectiveness and budget impact models were developed based on the avoided postoperative adverse events following implementation of the first pillar of PBM for non-cardiac and cardiac surgical patients. The probabilities of adverse events (sepsis with and without pneumonia, renal failure, myocardial infarction and stroke) were taken from a recent meta-analysis and the costs of treating these adverse events to the SSI were estimated through expert views and the use of SSI guidelines. Results: The PBM arm dominated the control arm for both non-cardiac and cardiac surgeries in terms of cost-effectiveness in the simulated cohort of patients and was associated with improved outcomes and lower costs (1768 and 1244 avoided adverse events, and incremental cost reductions for non-cardiac and cardiac surgery of 7504 Turkish lira [TRY] and 6102 TRY, respectively). The budget impact analysis showed that PBM is a potential cost-saving option for the SSI, with savings of up to 196,937,705 TRY (€12,841,697) for hip and knee arthroplasty and 24,642,504 TRY (€1,606,861) for CABG surgery. Conclusion: PBM is a cost-effective option with a potential of cost-saving for cardiac and non-cardiac surgery in Turkey.