Audience
- All transplant program directors, administrators, data coordinators, clinical coordinators, compliance and quality managers, and clinical support staff
- OPO executive directors, procurement directors and placement coordinators
- All OPTN member representatives and alternate representatives
Background
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some transplant programs may want to refuse certain organ offers for reasons related to the candidate, the donor, or OPO or transplant hospital operational issues. For this purpose, the following refusal codes may be used for COVID-19-related reasons beginning March 25, 2020.
Future evaluation of the impact of this emergency to both the national transplant system and individual transplant programs and OPOs will rely on complete and accurate recording of organ offers refusals related to the pandemic (testing limitations, candidate risk, etc.).
Refusal code 840: COVID-19: candidate-related reason
Transplant hospitals should use this code when refusing an organ offer due to a candidate-related COVID-19 reason. While not an exhaustive list, some examples of reasons the code may be used are if candidates:
- Have had potential exposure.
- Are symptomatic.
- Are being tested.
- Have a positive test result.
Do not use this code if you will not accept any offers for a candidate at this time due to the pandemic. In that instance, inactivate the candidate using the inactive reason “COVID-19 precaution,” which has been added to Waitlist℠ to address instances where a transplant program opts to temporarily defer organ offers for a transplant candidate due to issues relating to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Refusal code 841: COVID-19 donor-related reason
Transplant hospitals should use this code when refusing an organ offer due to a donor-related COVID-19 reason. While not an exhaustive list, some examples of reasons the code may be used include:
- Donors with high exposure risk.
- Donors where no testing is available.
- Donors with positive or indeterminate test results.
- When a different specimen type (nasal vs. BAL) is preferred.
Refusal code 842: COVID-19: OPO or transplant hospital operational issue
Transplant hospitals should use this refusal code when refusing an organ offer due to COVID-19-related operational issues at either the OPO or the transplant hospital. While not an exhaustive list, some examples of reasons the code may be used include:
- Organ recovery scheduling issues.
- OR or ICU bed shortages.
- Personnel shortages or other ancillary service support issues.
More information
The UNOS COVID-19 resources page is refreshed regularly with the most current updates and resources.
If you have any additional questions, please contact [email protected].
As a reminder, our IT Customer Service Desk is available 8 am – 7 pm EST. Contact [email protected] or 800-978-4334.
The Organ Center is available around the clock and can be reached at 800-292-9537.
