America’s Blood Centers (ABC) commends the recent decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to officially recognized that all prehospital blood transfusions qualify as Advanced Life Support Level 2 (ALS2) procedures. This important milestone highlights the critical role of prehospital blood transfusions in enhancing patient outcomes and survival rates.
Patient access to blood transfusions before they reach a hospital is a critical strategy in achieving national goals of zero preventable deaths after traumatic injury and improving post crash care. In fact, one study found up to 5% increased odds of mortality for every minute of delay in access to blood.
Community blood centers are at the forefront of efforts to provide blood and blood products for use in the prehospital setting. The majority of community blood centers are now providing blood and blood products as part of prehospital transfusion programs and additional blood centers are considering or are in the process of implementing such a relationship. In 2023, ABC members supplied over 32,000 blood and blood products to an emergency management system in support of their prehospital transfusion program.
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the demand for prehospital transfusion programs is expected to double in the next year. Despite this growth, the total percentage of systems carrying blood remains only a small portion of the 11,000 ground EMS agencies nationwide providing 9-1-1 response with transport to an acute care hospital. Reimbursement and the availability of blood products remain the key barriers to increased adoption and must be rectified through federal and state interventions.
While CMS’ recent action is a crtical step, the lack of specific reimbursement for these transfusiosn threatens both existing and future prehospital programs. ABC calls on CMS, Congress, and federal and state agencies to create and fund a comprehensive effort to assign specific reimbursement for blood transfusions administered in the pre-hospital space and establish programs to increase the number of blood donors required for this new aspect of care. Click here to join our call.
Just as important as reimbursement for thise programs is an increase in the availability of blood products to support a corresponding increase in demand. Blood centers routinely operate on three days of blood or less with only three percent of the U.S. population donating blood each year. A significant increase in the blood donor pool must occur alongside the implementation of programs to best utilize this limited national resouce. Learn about ABC’s efforts working with the Administration, Congress, and industry stakeholders to promote the value of blood and strengthen and diversify our nation’s donor base here.
As a member of the Prehospital Blood Transfusion Initiative Coalition steering committee, ABC and our members have played an active role in shaping this policy reform. To learn more about ABC’s advocacy initiatives and the importance of prehospital blood transfusions, click here.