The learning curve of COVID-19 and organ donation: Potential missed opportunities in the COVID era.

Background: Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, positive COVID-19 status often disqualified potential organ donors due to perceived risks, despite limited evidence. Subsequent studies have clarified that the COVID-19 status of donors, particularly when incidental and not the cause of death, does not adversely affect non-lung transplant outcomes. This study quantifies the potential loss of eligible organ donors and the corresponding impact on organ availability during the initial phase of the pandemic. Methods: In this retrospective analysis, we examined deceased donor referrals to a major organ procurement organization from June 2020 to January 2022. Referrals were categorized as All Referrals, Medically Ruled Out (MRO), or Procured Donors (PD). We used Chi-square tests for categorical comparisons and logistic regression to model additional donors and organs, contrasting COVID-negative and positive cases within age-matched cohorts. Results: Among 9478 referrals, 23.4 % (2221) were COVID-positive. Notably, COVID-positive referrals had a substantially higher MRO rate (80.6 % vs. 29.6 %, p < 0.01) and a markedly lower PD rate (0.2 % vs. 8.2 %, p < 0.01). Potential missed donations of 103 organs from COVID-positive referrals were identified. Conclusion: This OPO-level study demonstrates a substantial impact of COVID-19 status on organ donation rates, revealing significant missed opportunities. Improved management of donor COVID-19 status could potentially increase organ donations nationwide, taking into account evolving evidence and vaccine availability changes.

Current landscape of kidney allocation: Organ procurement organization perspectives.

Organ procurement organizations (OPOs) play a central role in the recovery, preservation, and distribution of deceased donor kidneys for transplantation in the United States. We conducted a national survey to gather information on OPO practices and perceived barriers to efficient organ placement in the face of the new circle-based allocation and asked for suggestions to overcome them. Of the 57 OPOs, 44 responded (77%). The majority of OPOs (61%) reported barriers to obtaining a kidney biopsy, including lack of an available pathologist. Most OPOs (55%) indicated barriers to pumping owing to a lack of available staff and transportation. Respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the new allocation system has worsened transportation challenges (85%), increased provisional acceptances of kidneys (66%), increased communication challenges with transplant centers (68%), and worsened the efficiency of organ allocation (83%). OPO-suggested solutions include making transplant centers more accountable for inefficient selection practices, developing reliable transportation options, and removing the requirement for national sharing. These findings underscore the need to examine closely the trade-offs of the new allocation system with respect to costs, organ ischemia, and discard. These findings may help inform practice and policy for overcoming transportation barriers and improving the efficiency of organ placement.

Establish an Organ Donation Trust System Centered on the Public and the Families of the Donors / 中国医学伦理学

Public trust is the foundation for supporting the sustainable development of various social donation systems. However, the construction of trust system is continuous, long-term, and easily lost and difficult to defend. This study explored the multi-object and multi-dimensional trust demands of the public, donors and their families in interpersonal, system, social and supervision aspects. It was proposed that participating institutions and practitioners should take the multidimensional claims as an action-oriented, break the crisis of trust by building two major support systems centered on the public and donors’ families, and jointly safeguard the sustainable and high-quality development of organ donation.

Systematic review of hospital-level metrics and interventions to increase deceased organ donation.

BACKGROUND: Efforts to ameliorate the organ shortage have predominantly focused on improving processes and interventions at multiple levels in the organ donation process, but no comprehensive review of hospital-level features contributing to organ donation exists. We undertook a systematic review of the literature to better understand current knowledge and knowledge gaps about hospital-level metrics and interventions associated with successful organ donation. METHODS: We searched six electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Health Business Elite, and Google scholar) and conference abstracts for articles on hospital-level features associated with the final outcome of organ donation (PROSPERO CRD42020187080). Editorials, letters to the editor, and reviews without original data were excluded. Our main outcomes were conversion rate, donation rate, number of organs recovered, number of donors, and authorization rate. RESULTS: Our search yielded 2177 studies, and after a thorough assessment, 72 articles were included in this systematic review. Studies were thematically categorized into 1) Hospital-level interventions associated with metrics of organ donation; these included patient- and family-centric measures (i.e. standardized interviews, collaborative requesting and decoupling, and dedicated in-house coordinators), and donor management goals that significantly increased conversion rates by up to 64%; 2) Hospital-level multi-stage programs/policies; which increased authorization rates between 30 and 50%; and 3) Hospital characteristics and qualities; being an academic center, trauma center and larger hospital correlated with higher authorization and conversion rates. Most studies had considerable risk of bias and were of low quality. CONCLUSIONS: There is a lack of well-designed studies on hospital-level metrics and interventions associated with organ donation. The use of thoughtful, patient- and family-centric approaches to authorization generally is associated with more organ donors. Future work can build on what is known about the hospital role in organ donation to improve the entire organ donation process.

Informed Clustering of Donation Service Areas for Improved Benchmarking.

The donation community continuously strives to collaborate and share effective practices to further the mission of saving and healing lives. Donation service areas in which the Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) work are multifaceted in their demographics, inciting the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network to consider a more holistic and objective measure of similarity rather than the size of population alone or locational proximity alone. This would allow OPOs, as a part of their quality improvement efforts, to learn from and mentor other organizations that are dealing with similar challenges. By incorporating multiple informative characteristics together, we can distinguish those likenesses only revealed by taking into account multiple factors simultaneously. We used statistical approaches that take many characteristics of interest describing a donation service area and purposely excluded performance measures that an OPO may be able to influence by their own practices. Unsupervised learning methods combined the original characteristics into a smaller number of new variables, eliminating correlation and overlap in information from the original characteristics, and clustered donation service areas based on the general characteristics and population of the area. This analysis is a first step in providing a different perspective for OPOs to learn from other organizations that may face similar challenges, as well as to share best practices and open new lines of communication.

Time Is a Precious Commodity: 2018 OPTN Policy Change and the Potential to Lower Heart Transplant Waitlist Time in the Sickest Patients.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Heart transplantation is the gold standard therapy for end-stage heart failure; however, the donor pool is limited, making this a scarce resource that must be allocated to the sickest patients in an efficient, fair, and equitable manner. The allocation policies have been constantly revised over the years to refine the process. We will explore the new heart allocation system, OPTN-Policy 6, as well as, review why these changes were necessary. RECENT FINDINGS: Over the past decade, the number of active heart transplant candidates nearly doubled, with a dramatic increase in the number of status 1A and 1B (high priority) candidates. Candidates have also faced increased waitlist times with geographic variances. The allocation policy changes will attempt to alleviate these problems as well as adapt to advances in technology. The new allocation policy is designed to adapt to the present day reality of expanded mechanical support use, increased candidate acuity, increasing waiting times, and geographical disparities in transplant rates. Though the implementation of the new allocation policy will require some change in practice, the transplant community, as knowledge is gained, is accustomed to change and refinement in practice, in an effort to improve outcomes for patients with end-stage heart failure.

Variation in Pediatric Organ Donor Management Practices Among US Organ Procurement Organizations.

INTRODUCTION: Reports of actual pediatric organ donor management practice among US organ procurement organizations are sparse, and the use of standardized management guidelines is unknown. A recent consensus statement from the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the American College of Chest Physicians, and the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations offers guidelines for the management of the pediatric organ donor. RESEARCH QUESTION: To describe the use of guidelines and routine practices in the management of the pediatric organ donor with respect to hemodynamics, lung and ventilator management, fluid and electrolytes, hormonal replacement therapy, the use of blood products, thermoregulation, and prophylactic antibiotics. DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study using a survey and follow-up telephone interview with respondents from all 58 US organ procurement organizations. RESULTS: All 58 US Organ Procurement Organizations participated. A majority employed written guidelines for the management of pediatric donor hemodynamics, thermoregulation, fluids, and electrolytes. Management of blood products, the lung, and mechanical ventilation were less commonly committed to written guidelines, but common practices were described. All used various forms of hormonal replacement therapy and the majority administered empiric antibiotic therapy. Wide variation was observed in the management of the lung, mechanical ventilation, and glycemic control. DISCUSSION: Most OPOs used forms of standardized donor management for the pediatric organ donor although variation in the content of that management exists. Barriers to an evidence-based approach to the pediatric donor need to be determined and addressed.

Fair is fair: We must re-allocate livers for transplant.

The 11 original regions for organ allocation in the United States were determined by proximity between hospitals that provided deceased donors and transplant programs. As liver transplants became more successful and demand rose, livers became a scarce resource. A national system has been implemented to prioritize liver allocation according to disease severity, but the system still operates within the original procurement regions, some of which have significantly more deceased donor livers. Although each region prioritizes its sickest patients to be liver transplant recipients, the sickest in less liver-scarce regions get transplants much sooner and are at far lower risk of death than the sickest in more liver-scarce regions. This has resulted in drastic and inequitable regional variation in preventable liver disease related death rate.A new region districting proposal - an eight district model - has been carefully designed to reduce geographic inequities, but is being fought by many transplant centers that face less scarcity under the current model. The arguments put forth against the new proposal, couched in terms of fairness and safety, will be examined to show that the new system is technologically feasible, will save more lives, and will not worsen socioeconomic disparity. While the new model is likely not perfect, it is a necessary step toward fair allocation.

Allocation of livers for liver transplantation: ethics and politics.

The supply of livers for transplantation is not adequate for the number of patients waiting for liver transplantation. The allocation and distribution of the limited supply of livers is hotly debated at the United Network for Organ Sharing. The principles of medical utility and justice must be balanced in an equitable distribution scheme. Excellent local liver transplant centers should be available to all patients.

Beyond Pittsburgh: protocols for controlled non-heart-beating cadaver organ recovery.

Much of the ethical debate about controlled non-heart-beating cadaver (NHBC) organ recovery has focused on the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) protocol. Some commentators have voiced serious reservations about the ethical acceptability of that protocol; others have argued that the protocol contains sufficiently stringent ethical safeguards to warrant a limited and carefully monitored trial at UPMC. UPMC is not the only organization pursuing controlled NHBC organ procurement, however. The study of organ procurement organizations described in this article suggests that controlled NHBC organ procurement is a practice that, if not yet widespread, is certainly no longer isolated to a few organizations in which it is carefully monitored. Rather, it is being carried out under a variety of circumstances, many of which are less carefully constrained ethically than at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The next stage of the ethical debate should focus on issues that are arising in a variety of settings as the practice spreads.

Equitable distribution in pediatric heart transplantation. Arguments in favor of a national list.

The disparity between the supply and demand for pediatric donor hearts remains the major constraint in pediatric heart transplantation. This disparity draws attention to the importance of an equitable distribution policy for pediatric hearts. An examination of the policy on pediatric heart distribution shows that although a governmental task force recommended that these organs be allocated according to a national list, the current policy, developed by the United Network of Organ Sharing, emphasizes the local distribution of pediatric hearts. The decision to allocate organs locally was based on both theoretical and practical concerns about national distribution. In analyzing these concerns, we conclude not only that a national list may be a more equitable means of distribution but also that the arguments against a national list no longer justify a policy favoring local distribution. We suggest, therefore, that the time has come to reconsider implementation of a national list for pediatric heart distribution.

Organ procurement expenditures and the role of financial incentives.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the billed charges for organ procurement and to consider the role of financial incentives to encourage organ donation. DESIGN: Observational study. Data were obtained on donor organ acquisition charges from a random sample of kidney, heart, liver, heart-lung, and pancreas transplants. SETTING: The data were based on 28.7% of all transplants performed in the United States in 1988. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Total charges for donor organ acquisition. RESULTS: The median charges (1988 dollars) for donor organs were as follows: kidney, $12,290; heart, $12,578; liver, $16,281; heart-lung, $12,028; and pancreas, $15,400. Since 1983, kidney acquisition charges have increased by 12.9%, heart charges by 64.1%, and liver charges by 61.8%, after adjusting for inflation. Between 9% and 31% of total transplant procedure-specific charges were associated with donor organ acquisition. CONCLUSIONS: There is wide unexplained variation in organ procurement charges. Data on actual costs are required to establish the appropriateness of current charges. Prevailing billing and payment methods should be reevaluated in an effort to address a variety of issues related to reimbursement. Current payment methods may actually contribute to cost inefficiency. Finally, while financial incentives may enhance the efficiency of organ procurement efforts, they will adversely affect the cost-effectiveness of transplantation.

Organ procurement: expenditures and financial incentives.

... One is struck by the high level of organ procurement charges in spite of the characterization of organ procurement as altruistic. Although the median organ procurement charges in 1988, documented by Evans, ranged from nearly $16,000 to nearly $21,000 (1991 dollars), there was not a penny for the accident victim's/organ donor's family. That some transplant hospitals routinely marked up charges they paid to organ procurement organizations by as much as 200% hardly seems consistent with altruism. Viewed generously, organ recipients and payers on their behalf are being asked to cross-subsidize other worthy causes in which transplant hospitals engage. If the organ procurement system is to remain altruistic, not only is cost per procured organ an issue but more equitable sharing of costs would seem in order....