Managing routine requests for autologous donation by surgeons for the purpose of obtaining the result of a patient's HIV test before surgery

A transfusion medicine physician in the Southeastern USA requests suggestions from others regarding how best to deal with an orthopedic surgeon who orders at least one unit of autologous RBCs on every patient for whom surgery is scheduled, openly admitting that the blood order is done to get HIV test results before the operation. In addition, the surgeon insists on being provided with written documentation of negative HIV test results before operating. The transfusion medicine physician is planning on discontinuing notification of the surgeon when his patient's HIV test is negative, because he believes that if the surgeon wants to know the results of this test he should discuss the situation with his patient and order the test from a clinical laboratory. The transfusion medicine physician acknowledges that his center will continue to notify physicians whenever an autologous patient has a positive infectious disease marker, so that the patient can be counseled as necessary. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

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