Hospitals and Health Care Facilities

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Blood Donation Requirements for Hospitals and Blood Banks

This bill requires blood banks to follow doctors' orders for specific patients to donate their own blood or designate blood for a particular patient's use, and allows hospitals to let patients provide such donations when ordered by a doctor.

What This Bill Does

• Requires blood banks to comply with a physician's order for autologous (donating one's own blood) or directed (designated for a specific patient) blood donation.
• Allows hospitals to permit patients scheduled for medical procedures to donate their own blood when ordered by a doctor, unless it is medically unsafe.
• Permits both blood banks and hospitals to charge reasonable fees to cover the costs of facilitating these donations.
• Ensures that all such donations must still meet federal and state safety standards.

Who It Names or Affects

• Blood banks
• Hospitals
• Patients who are scheduled for medical procedures

Terms To Know

Autologous blood donation

Donating one's own blood for future use by that person.

Directed blood donation

A blood donation designated in advance for a specific patient’s planned medical procedure.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if a hospital or blood bank refuses to comply with the requirements.
• It is unclear how this will affect existing practices and policies at hospitals and blood banks.

Official Summary Text

This bill requires a
blood bank
to
comply with a physician's order for an autologous blood donation or directed blood donation for a specific patient. All such donations remain subject to federal and state donor eligibility, testing, labeling, screening, storage, and compatibility requir
ements. A blood bank may charge a reasonable and necessary fee to cover the administrative cost of facilitating
such
a

donatio
n.

This bill requires a hospital to
allow a patient scheduled for a medical procedure to provide an autologous blood donation or directed blood donation when ordered by a physician. A hospital may refuse such a donation only when medically contraindicated or incompatible with safety standa
rds. A hospital may charge a reasonable and necessary fee to cover the administrative cost of facilitating such a donation.
These provisions
do not authorize a waiver of federal or state blood safety, testing, or compatib
ility requirements.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL 2166
By Barrett

SENATE BILL 1947
By Bowling
SB1947
011128
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 68,
Chapter 32, relative to blood donations.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 68, Chapter 32, Part 1, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Autologous blood donation" means a blood donation of a person's
own blood for future use by that person;
(2) "Blood bank" means a facility for the collection, processing, storage,
or distribution of human blood, human blood components or derivatives, or the
performance of transfusion or reinfusion procedures;
(3) "Blood donation":
(A) Means the donation of whole blood or blood products; and
(B) Includes platelets, red blood cells, white blood cells, and
serum;
(4) "Directed blood donation" means a blood donation for which the
product of the donation is designated for use by a specific patient in advance of a
planned medical procedure; and
(5) "Physician" means a doctor of medicine licensed pursuant to title 63,
chapter 6, or a doctor of osteopathy licensed pursuant to title 63, chapter 9.
(b) A blood bank shall comply with a physician's order for an autologous blood
donation or directed blood donation for a specific patient. All such donations remain
subject to federal and state donor eligibility, testing, labeling, screening, storage, and

- 2 - 011128

compatibility requirements. A blood bank may charge a reasonable and necessary fee
to cover the administrative cost of facilitating an autologous blood donation or directed
blood donation. This section does not authorize a waiver of any safety, testing, or
screening requirements under federal or state law.
(c) A hospital shall allow a patient scheduled for a medical procedure to provide
an autologous blood donation or directed blood donation when ordered by a physician.
A hospital may refuse such a donation only when medically contraindicated or
incompatible with safety standards. A hospital may charge a reasonable and necessary
fee to cover the administrative cost of facilitating such a donation. This section does not
authorize a waiver of federal or state blood-safety, testing, or compatibility requirements.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.