http://media.soundmedicine.org/segments/091513_5.mp3
A recent trend encouraging surgeons to order less blood during surgeries has emerged across the nation. A study on blood use conducted at John Hopkins Hospital, showed that hospitals could save up to $200,000 per year by reducing the amount of blood ordered for surgery. Steven Frank, M.D., the director of blood management services at Johns Hopkins Hospital, headed the study and found that it was useful and cost-effective to decrease the amount of blood ordered for surgeries. The study used two years of electronic medical records and found that blood was being ordered for surgeries that rarely called for transfusions. The last published blood orderguidelines were published in 1978, before the advent of laparoscopic surgery.