A large West coast IDN utilizes 6 different blood banks across the state. Fees differ across these suppliers and even within the same suppliers, largely due to geographical restraints. In addition, suppliers were increasing their fees across all sites at the beginning of the calendar year. There were many agreements throughout the health system, spread across each region and individual sites, which were not co-terminus.
The health system’s goals included enhancing product quality, improving standardization of current services (delivery times, return policies), and lowering the cost of blood products and services across the system. A Request for Proposal (RFP) was distributed to allow incumbents to bid on their current business, and provided them the opportunity to gain additional regional business. In this RFP, it requested suppliers to agree to contract terms to enhance flexibility and support utilization policies. Multiple rounds of negotiations were conducted prior to selecting finalist(s) for the health system.
Utilizing Pathstone’s laboratory consulting services, the health system conducted an RFP allowed for them to select the best option for each regional facility. Though many regional facilities stayed with their incumbent, it allowed others to select another supplier if the proposal responses more closely aligned with the site’s goals. Suppliers agreed to a co-terminus end date to allow the health system to evaluate as a whole once the contracts expire.
During COVID-19, there has been an extraordinary demand for blood and blood products, yet a shortage of donations. Therefore, blood pricing has largely been dependent on availability and donations.