By Shawn M. Carter
President Joe Biden signed the Securing the U.S. Organ Procurement Transplantation Network Act into law, according to a statement from the National Kidney Foundation.
“Make no mistake, reforms to the governance of the [Organ Procurement Transplantation Network (OPTN)] will save lives, strengthen accountability and increase transparency,” Kevin Longino, CEO of the National Kidney Foundation, said in a statement.
Read the full article in Healio.
Three studies examine offer acceptance practices and the impact of the Offer Filters tool
Beginning in 2017, Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) policies have been modified to eliminate Donor Service Area (DSA or the area served by a specific Organ Procurement Organization) from allocation policies for all organs. While monitoring reports indicate that these policy changes are achieving the goal of getting the most medically urgent patients transplanted sooner, another result is that, on average, transplant centers have experienced an increase in the number of offers received.
Two recent studies from UNOS researchers analyzed offer acceptance practices, while a third looked at the impact of the Offer Filters tool on transplant program offer volume and overall kidney non-use rates. Read the entire article from UNOS.
by Greg Segal, Jennifer Erickson, MS, Donna Cryer, JD, and Bryan Sivak
The U.S. government recently made a transformative announcement: it is breaking up the flawed monopoly that manages the current organ procurement system, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).
This commonsense reform marks an unequivocal win for patients, and has been heralded by patient groupsopens in a new tab or window, equity leadersopens in a new tab or window, and bipartisanopens in a new tab or window Congressional officesopens in a new tab or window alike. Read the full story in MedPage Today.
Citing the need to modernize the US organ transplantation framework, the Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has announced the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) Modernization Initiative. The OPTN aims to accelerate progress in areas including technology, data transparency and analytics, governance, operations, and quality improvement and innovation. Read more in this American College of Surgeons (ACS) Brief.
The Board of Directors of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) has approved a mandatory waiting time adjustment for Black kidney transplant candidates disadvantaged by race-based kidney function estimates. The policy revision, which went into effect on January 5, 2023, is a major step toward kidney transplantation equity. Read more in Renal & Urology News.
The Organ Procurement and Transplant Network Board of Directors has unanimously voted to remove the race coefficient from eGFR equations.
Several organizations have called for the removal of the race coefficient because it puts Black patients on the transplant list at a disadvantage. Following the vote by its board, the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN) will be implementing a race-neutral eGFR equation within 30 days. Read the full story in Healio.