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SABM Breaking News

SABM wishes to thank the members of the InCor PBM team, headed by Guilherme Rabello, in Sao Paulo, Brazil for a recent submission regarding PBM during the COVID-19 pandemic. This document aligns with the SABM Call For Action publication and is available in both Portuguese and English. It serves to expand SABM’s reach, promoting PBM content in different languages around the globe. Currently the SABM Standards are also available in Portuguese, thanks to the work of the InCor team. Click the links below to access these resources:

Portuguese – Patient Blood Management PBM: an effective, safe, cost-effective and evidence-based way to provide medical treatment in the face of scarcity of blood bags caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

English – Patient Blood Management PBM: an effective, safe, cost-effective and evidence-based way to provide medical treatment in the face of scarcity of blood bags caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are pleased to announce that the title of our SABM section in Journal Anesthesia & Analgesia (A&A) has now been changed to Patient Blood Management (PBM), formerly named Blood Management. This is an important adjustment as we refine our focus on patient care. PBM is a patient‐centered rather than a blood product–centered approach to medical and surgical care. We applaud the vision of Jean-Francois Pittet, MD, A&A Editor-in-Chief for instituting this change. Members may recall that it was some three years ago when SABM entered into this collaborative agreement for A&A to launch this new section devoted to Patient Blood Management. SABM Board member, Susan Goobie, MD, is the Executive Section Editor of Patient Blood Management for A&A and she continues to work tirelessly. We encourage members to consider submitting future manuscripts in PBM, both national and international, for peer review and publication in this section.

Consider submitting your future manuscripts for peer review and publication. The success of this endeavor will depend on the provision of material to make it lively and attractive to our colleagues and other professionals in the field. Information can be found by clicking here.

SABM lectures at InCor Hospital System in São Paolo, Brazil


Pierre Tibi, MD, SABM President, and Sherri Ozawa RN, SABM President-elect, recently traveled to the InCor Hospital System in São Paolo, Brazil, to deliver a series of educational lectures on the implementation of a comprehensive Patient Blood Management program in a Cardiology and Cardiothoracic surgery setting. InCor is the largest hospital system in Latin America, and has comprehensive medical services including adult and pediatric heart transplant and other advanced medical and surgical cardiac procedures. Blood transfusion is a challenging issue in Latin America, with both supply and cost issues. InCor recognizes that a comprehensive Patient Blood Management strategy leads to increased efficiency, safety, and outcomes.

SABM Response to ICC-PBM Press Release on March 22, 2019

We are glad that Patient Blood Management is receiving attention, HOWEVER,

  • Actual Patient Blood Management Organizations were not invited or included – (e.g. SABM, NATA, and IFPBM (International Foundation of PBM)).
  • Funding sources are unclear.
  • PBM is PATIENT-centered, not transfusion-centered and focuses on the Patient’s blood, not donor blood.
  • PBM is a BUNDLE of care, not one specific therapeutic intervention and cannot and should not be compared to transfusion in the manner described in the paper.
  • Absence of RCT’s in PBM does not equate with a lack of evidence.
  • Many hospitals are implementing PBM initiatives – with positive measurable results – in response to published data.
  • We have concern that these purported “weak” recommendations will diminish advancement in the field which lead to improved patient outcomes.

ICC-PBM article: JAMA. 2019;321(10):983-997. doi:10.1001/jama.2019.0554.

SABM Online PBM Certificate Course – Now Available


Physicians, nurses and other healthcare personnel looking to grow their knowledge and skills in Patient Blood Management — from ethics to advanced techniques — should consider enrolling in the new online course.

Enroll today!

Choosing Wisely® Now Includes SABM’s Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question



SABM is proud to partner with Choosing Wisely, an initiative of the ABIM Foundation that seeks to advance a national dialogue on avoiding unnecessary medical tests, treatments and procedures.

Download Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question and place in waiting or exam rooms, or give to patients as handouts to educate them about overuse.