Patient blood management (PBM) programs provide guidelines for appropriate use of blood transfusion. In a new series involving >400,000 hospital admissions over an eight-year period, institution of a PBM program was associated with a 22 percent reduction in transfusions. Hospital length of stay and adverse events were also reduced, and there was an estimated cost savings of USD $7 million. PBM programs should not supersede clinical judgment in transfusion decisions, but when well designed and thoughtfully implemented, they can improve quality of care and reduce risks, costs, and burdens associated with transfusion.