Audience
- Lung Primary Program Administrators, Primary Data Coordinators, Primary Physicians, Primary Surgeons
- Lung TX Program Administrators/Managers, TX Program Directors, TX Program Medical Directors, Clinical Training Coordinators/Managers, TX Program – Clinical Coordinators, Support Staff-Clinical, Data Coordinators, Regulatory Affairs Coordinators/Managers, Compliance Officers, Quality Directors/Managers, Quality Coordinators, TX Program Surgical Directors, TX Surgeons
- Members of the Lung Transplantation Committee
Implementation date
Dec. 8, 2021
At-a-glance
A new Lung Allocation Score (LAS): 50 or Higher report is available in the reports section of WaitlistSM to assist you with monitoring candidates who have an LAS of 50 or higher. Within 14 days of the date a candidate’s LAS becomes 50 or higher, the candidate’s transplant program must assess and report the following variables to the OPTN:
- Assisted ventilation
- Supplemental oxygen
- Current PCO2
While the candidate’s LAS remains 50 or higher, the transplant program must continue to assess and report assisted ventilation and supplemental oxygen data every 14 days. The transplant program must also report updated PCO2 data if the assessment was performed during the previous 14 day interval.
The new report includes all candidates with an LAS of 50 or higher and provides the current test date for each candidate along with the next reporting date deadline. The report is designed to assist programs with meeting the OPTN policy reporting requirements.
An enhancement to the Waitlist export feature for thoracic candidates is also available for use. On Sept. 29, 2021, a change was made to the Waitlist to allow members to report separate dates for lung candidate’s weight and height. The export file has been updated for the Export Active Waiting List (Thoracic) so that the “Height Evaluation Date” field is now included as a new element in the Export Active Waiting List (Thoracic). The “Weight Evaluation Date” has been available since the change was made on Sept. 29.
What you need to do
Please utilize the new Lung Allocation Score: 50 or Higher report in Waitlist reports to monitor reporting dates for candidates with an LAS of 50 or higher and maintain assisted ventilation, supplemental oxygen and PCO2 reporting compliance. In order to remain in compliance, you will need to update the clinical values for assisted ventilation and supplemental oxygen for every candidate listed on the report before the reporting due date. If you have obtained recent a PCO2 value, you are expected to update that as well. This may necessitate additional clinical encounters and will inform the timely scheduling of these interactions.
We have also released new API features that allow for integration with UNetSM lung clinical values and calculated LAS. Check with your IT department or EHR vendor to see if they plan to provide integration with UNet for the purposes of interoperability and reduced manual data entry.
Education resources
Refer to OPTN Policy 10.1.G Reporting Additional Data for Candidates with an LAS of 50 or Higher and the evaluation plan for reporting requirements.
Refer to Updated Cohort for Calculation of the Lung Allocation Score (LAS) policy notice.
Questions?
If you have questions relating to implementation, contact UNOS Customer Service at [email protected], or call 800-978-4334 from 8 am to 7 pm EST.
For policy-related questions, contact [email protected].
