Blood For Life, Not Profit: Eradicating Blood As A Brokerage Product

Due to studies that have shown donated blood supplies to be safer for transfusion than paid blood supplies, the Food and Drug Administration strongly recommends that blood for transfusions only come from donated supplies. Because of this industry standard, blood donation and processing centers – or blood banks – routinely focus their front-end marketing efforts on appealing to donors using the idea that they are saving lives. While donors widely believe that their blood donations are given to those in need for free, and moreover that their donations remain for use in their own community, the process and industry actually work much differently. In fact, while it is possible that blood donations remain local, it is also true that blood banks sell – not donate – donated blood to hospitals. We’re certainly not knocking blood banks for the practice of selling blood. It is obvious that testing and processing blood for transfusions requires significant overhead costs including facility and equipment purchasing and upkeep, as well as trained staff, none of which is cheap, much less free. But we are concerned about the process by which blood is often sold to hospitals, by going through a blood broker as a marked up commodity. Furthermore, blood donation and processing centers operate as non-profit entities, but the blood brokers who facilitate transactions between blood banks and hospitals are for-profit entities. With rising costs in healthcare being a serious issue for the overall healthcare industry, it seems unnecessary, bordering on irresponsible, to continue to purchase blood through a broker at marked-up cost when it is entirely possible to purchase donated blood supplies for transfusion at actual cost direct from the blood bank. How is this possible? While some blood banks operate their own direct sales to hospitals, and group purchasing orders are always an option, the new kid on the option-block is online ordering. Sure, this does not promote keeping donations in the donor community, but the method does lend itself to less costly supplies, the actual use of supplies before they expire, and that the blood goes where it is needed. While online purchasing options are a new trend and operations vary widely, one online retailer, BioMarketplace.com, goes so far as to not charge a fee on the purchase of blood supplies being purchased for transfusion. Not only is the process of buying through brokers unnecessarily costly, but this method, as well as group purchasing, is not social. We don’t mean social in the traditional sense. In this case, social refers to building strong business relationships. The adage, “it’s who you know, not what you know,” rings true when it comes to ordering. Using a social online system or direct purchasing allows hospitals and researchers to build a relationship with their blood supplier(s). However, the use of a blood broker prevents this direct form of relationship building. We live in a social world where we are constantly connected through social media and the internet. In times like these, with the technology for connection and transparency that is currently available to us, it seems that obtaining blood – the essence of human life – should be a clear and transparent process. With all of the other advancements surrounding our daily lives, it makes no sense to continue with such an antiquated system of purchasing for an industry that relies on quality and extreme timeliness. BioMarketplace’s BIO Blood Exchange makes it easy for hospital administrators and lab managers to request and obtain the blood they need. The online marketplace allows for direct interaction with the supplying blood bank, supplier comparisons, cost bidding, rush supply options and long-term, regular supply options. At the moment, blood brokers are still prevalent and play a big part in this market, but companies like BioMarketplace are heading a much needed change in the process of obtaining blood. With all the secrecy in the industry, platforms that make buying blood social and transparent are in demand. Blood brokers have been around for quite some time and now it’s time for us to leave that behind and move into the current century.