Patient blood management (PBM) focuses on the optimal treatment of the individual patient and comprises the use of transfusion therapy, pharmacotherapy and/or ancillary techniques. Key to the care of surgical patients is preoperative screening for, and management of, anemia so that the need for surgical blood transfusion can be minimized. Preoperative anemia management programs involve careful evaluation of patients for early identification of those who are anemic, optimization of the preoperative erythrocyte volume, reduction of blood loss from repeated phlebotomies for testing and improvement of the individual patient's tolerance of a lower hemoglobin level. A successful program can provide benefits to the patient (reduced allogeneic exposures, potential discovery of occult causes of anemia, improved outcomes), the hospital (better patient care, reduced expenses) and society at large (conservation of the available blood supply).