The German PBM Network was founded in 2014 with the aim to implement PBM in Germany. When joining the PBM Network, the hospitals are supported with training material and standard operating procedures.
In order to assess the effect of the PBM implementation, routine data of 1.2 million patients from 14 hospitals were evaluated. The analysis showed that the implementation of a PBM program can effectively reduce the consumption of red blood cell (RBC) units and the RBC transfusion rate in hospitals of different sizes. The reduction of RBC utilization is especially high in departments with high blood consumption (e.g. cardiac surgery, vascular surgery). In addition, PBM implementation was particularly effective in hospitals with initially high blood product consumption.