A-175 Objective Indexes for Comparing Platelet Usage Among Peer Hospitals During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Abstract Background Besides hospital size, clinical diagnosis and severity of patients’ cases determine the total platelet transfusions of each hospital. Therefore, the appropriateness of platelet usage could not be simply compared with the total units of platelet usage among hospitals of different sizes. This study aimed to establish objective indexes that can appropriately reflect the differences in platelet usage in various hospitals. Methods We used three objective indexes X, Y, and Z to compare the appropriateness of platelet transfusions among different hospitals. Instead of considering various factors such as hospital size, patient population, and disease diagnosis individually, three indexes were generated by dividing the annual total units of platelet usage by total annual reimbursement, the total number of admissions, and the average total reimbursement per admission for each hospital, respectively. Results Total units of platelet usage were only directly related to the sizes of hospitals. New indexes X and Y alleviated the hospital size-dependent difference. Index Y was considered a better option than index X, as its value fluctuated less during the COVID-19 pandemic. Index Z was adjusted with the average total reimbursement per admission, and its results showed that more patients of higher disease complexity did not result in more platelet usage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion These three objective indexes are suitable for peer comparison and monitoring the platelet usage of hospitals irrespective of their size.