University of Kansas Hospital: Case Study

University of Kansas Hospital exceeds blood savings goal in less than one year.

As Medical Director and Chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Kansas Hospital, Lowell Tilzer, M.D., understood that blood is a precious resource. As such, he had attended educational seminars on blood management and read literature on how blood overutilization is shown to negatively affect patient outcomes.

His colleague, Shirley Weber, the Administrative Director of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, initially approached blood utilization from an administrative perspective. She learned through benchmarking reports that other similarly sized academic medical centers were spending less on blood than their hospital was spending. With 550 staffed beds, a Level I Trauma Center, a large oncology program, and a very active transplant center, effective blood management is important to the success of the organization.

Dr. Tilzer and Ms. Weber teamed up to analyze how blood utilization could be improved at the University of Kansas Hospital. They reviewed the blood management program at a neighboring hospital, which had taken eight years to fully develop, but they knew they would need to see results much faster. After Shirley obtained executive leadership support—citing potential cost savings and patient care improvements—they evaluated several blood management consulting options. “We felt we needed a group that had a lot of credibility and structure so we could be successful,” said Ms. Weber. They engaged Strategic Healthcare Group to evaluate their blood utilization and help them implement recommendations.
Less than a year later, the CEO asked Dr. Tilzer, “How did you execute so well on this blood management program? This needs to be the model for how all new programs at the hospital are executed.”

“We saw an immediate reduction in blood use,” says Ms. Weber.  Dr. Tilzer adds, “We expected it to take a lot longer to get started. The first month, we saw a 13% reduction, and in our most recent month, we saw a 26% reduction. It hasn’t even been a year yet.” They estimate they have reduced overall blood use by 26% in less than a year.

Dr. Tilzer says the well-organized Strategic Blood Management™ process and experienced team created a “huge jump start” to the program. He also credits Ms. Weber’s organizational skills and ability to generate internal enthusiasm among nurses, administrators, lab technicians, and others to understand its importance, while he worked to generate excitement within the physician group. “The difference between this and other programs was that we had our tentacles all over the organization from the beginning,” says Dr. Tilzer.

“The experience has been outstanding,” says Ms. Weber. She adds that it is no small task for an organization to coordinate internal meetings, site visits, educational programs and much more. She says the Strategic team was an “absolute pleasure” to work with. “They are very credible and good speakers.”  Dr. Tilzer agrees, adding it takes a manager-level person within the organization who can take charge of the process.
“We have incredible executive leaders who were at the kick-off meeting and were visible, engaged and supportive. We practice medicine in an evidence-based manner. That’s exactly what (SHG) speaks to,” says Ms. Weber. According to Dr. Tilzer, patient outcomes and quality of care have improved, with mortality rates declining at the same time patient volume and case mix indices have increased. “We’re doing our patients a favor, as the literature suggests,” says Dr. Tilzer.

The University of Kansas Hospital exceeded its blood management goals for the first year; their one-year goal was to reduce blood use by 10%. They have also implemented standardized protocols and have a process for approaching physicians who do not follow those protocols. In addition, Strategic assisted them with hiring an experienced Transfusion Safety Coordinator. Next steps include a strategic planning process for anemia management and implementing educational venues for new nurses, physicians and residents.

Ms. Weber and Dr. Tilzer say they would “absolutely recommend” Strategic Healthcare Group. “They did a very good job motivating and leading the organization.” Now, they say internal excitement has taken on a life of its own with nurses and other employees championing the cause. “It’s their program now.”

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