Patients' willingness to pay for autologous blood donation.

Most cost-effectiveness analyses of autologous blood donation show very small health benefits for a substantial increase in resource utilization. However, these analyses do not consider the psychological benefits of peace of mind to patients participating in the program. In order to quantitate these benefits, we employed contingent valuation methodology to measure the willingness of patients undergoing elective surgery, to pay for autologous blood donation. The internal consistency of patient responses was investigated through correlations of willingness-to-pay values with risk perceptions and patient characteristics. Two hundred and thirty-five patients completed the self-administered questionnaire which included demographic, willingness-to-pay and risk perception questions. Median population willingness to pay for autologous blood donation was approximately $900 per patient. In multivariate analysis, willingness to pay varied significantly with dread of allogenic transfusion, perceived risk of requiring a blood transfusion and income. Patients who participate in autologous blood donation programs value the procedure highly and state they are willing to pay significant amounts out of pocket to assure themselves of available autologous blood. Willingness to pay correlated significantly with factors expected to influence value decisions.