OPTN launches COVID-focused interactive collaborative project; donation and transplant professionals will be able to share insights, resources
NOTE: Effective July 10, 2020, the OPTN COVID Collaborative inactivated. Read the details.
The emergence of COVID-19 has brought unique challenges to some of the standard processes and practices related to organ recovery and transplantation. The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network strives to support its members as they continue to pursue the important work of organ recoveries and transplants during this time.
The OPTN launched an interactive forum on April 22 so that its members may engage on topics specific to donation and transplant during COVID-19. The OPTN COVID Collaborative operates on a secure online communication platform and allows donation and transplant professionals to collaboratively discuss, organize, catalog and archive the learnings and insights developed during the 2020 pandemic.
The site will:
- Offer discussion forums, facilitated by collaborative improvement specialists
- House and organize the member-driven information that results from this collaboration
- Be available for the duration of COVID-19, or until the decision is made to close the project
- Deploy national and regional webinars to support the spread of effective practices that emerge from site discussion
Participation in the COVID Collaborative is limited to individuals from OPTN member organizations. Registration is required. The scope of discussions will include OPTN member business and administrative processes related to the management of COVID crisis, and discussions will be moderated. Members with questions about policy during the pandemic should email [email protected]. Members with questions about policy compliance during the pandemic should email [email protected].
For more information about the OPTN COVID Collaborative, email [email protected]. [Effective July 10, 2020, the OPTN COVID Collaborative inactivated. Read the details.]
New features added to national organ donation and transplantation data visualization tool
The following features have been added to the UNOS data visualization tool showing the effects of COVID-19 on organ donation and transplantation:
- A new daily waitlist snapshot graph showing the percent of the waitlist that is active, inactive due to COVID-19 precautions, and inactive due to another reason
- The option to sort all charts by pediatric or adult age groups
- Geographic areas that have been further stratified to include the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic
- Customization of reports that now carries across tabs—if you select a region, organ and/or age group on one tab, the same selections will automatically be shown on all tabs as you navigate among them
New donor data collection for COVID-19 testing and results added to DonorNet®
New data collection elements have been added to DonorNet to capture information regarding donor COVID-19 testing. OPOs can record whether testing was performed on the donor, and have the ability to report more than one test result. Entering this information is not mandatory.
COVID-19 special webinar on donor and transplant issues now available
A new pre-recorded joint society webinar on donor and transplant issues from the American Society of Transplant is now available. The one-hour recording includes information on:
- Precautions for the procurement team
- Screening donors and candidates
- Protecting the workforce: Surgical aspects
- Protecting the workforce: Infection control
Webinar hosted by New York organ donation and transplant professionals recording now available
On April 17, the New York region’s transplant hospitals and OPOs joined forces to share experiences and solutions during the collaborative “New York vs. COVID-19: We Are Winning!” webinar. A recording of the webinar is now available.
COVID-19 policy actions implemented
Read about policy actions taken by the OPTN Executive Committee to address operational issues in the COVID-19 crisis, including:
- Updates to candidate data
- Applications for modifications of kidney waiting time
- Data submission requirements
- Timely collection of data
- Reporting requirements after living kidney or liver donation
TIEDI® system updates: Amnesty status and temporary changes to requirements related to submitting LDF and TRF forms
The required submission of the following TIEDI forms has been suspended in response to the COVID-19 pandemic:
- Living donor follow-up form (LDF)
- Organ-specific transplant recipient follow-up form (TRF)
- Recipient malignancy form (PTM)
This provision will be backdated to apply to all forms due beginning March 13, 2020, the date of the presidential declaration of an emergency. It expires Sept. 30, 2020, although the Executive Committee will review and may extend the time frame if needed. If a form has not been submitted by its due date, the system will automatically update the form status from “Expected” to a new status of “Amnesty”.
New transplant patient resources on COVID-19 now available
Explore the latest COVID-19 patient news, webinars and FAQs on TransplantLiving.org
Stay current
We will continue to update the UNOS COVID-19 resources page as guidance is developed and enhanced.
