AM23-MN-30-O: Impact of Hospital Mergers and Acquisitions on the Transfusion Service (Enduring)

Hospital mergers and acquisitions continue to increase, driven largely by economic necessity. While there are templates to guide these mergers, little coordinated information is available to help transfusion services successfully merge and coordinate multiple transfusion services within these newly formed hospital systems. Recently our hospital system has expanded its local community footprint and acquired several smaller regional facilities. The goal of this proposed educational session is to share the insights we have gained that may aid in successfully managing the integration of multiple transfusion service operations into a coordinated operation that can realize opportunities to improve service effectiveness, quality, and operational cost savings as a part of hospital consolidation. Hospitals that become part of a regional system generally vary in size and complexity, making it important, as an initial step, to understand each facility's current capabilities and future organizational expectations. In our institution, this is the responsibility of the Regional Transfusion Director. Once this is well-documented, recommendations are developed that will drive system standardization, regulatory and quality initiatives, staffing, opportunities for electronic remote distribution, blood supply and costs, and patient blood management. We intend to discuss the benefits and challenges we have encountered in implementing these initiatives.