UNOS and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN)
For more than four decades, UNOS has played a vital role in building, operating, and strengthening the nation’s organ donation and transplantation system through its work as a contractor for the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).
UNOS helped bring our modern donation and transplant system from concept to reality, developing the infrastructure, technology and operational expertise needed to ensure organs are allocated fairly, safely and efficiently to patients across the United States.
Today, while UNOS continues to serve as an OPTN contractor, UNOS has grown into a multi-dimensional nonprofit that:
What is the OPTN?
The OPTN is the national system that coordinates organ donation and transplant across the United States. Established by the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984, the OPTN operates as a public private partnership connecting transplant hospitals, organ procurement organizations (OPOs), healthcare professionals, transplant candidates and recipients, donor families, living donors and transplant organizations to ensure organs are allocated safely and efficiently.
A history of public service
The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) was founded to help the community of donation and transplant professionals match donor organs with transplant candidates to save lives.
In 1986, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded UNOS the nation’s first federal OPTN contract. Since then, UNOS has supported and managed key OPTN functions under federal contract, helping to establish new technologies, policies and initiatives to transform the nation’s donation and transplant system.
Throughout its history as a federal contractor, UNOS has delivered the technology and operational backbone that allows the OPTN to manage the national transplant waiting list and to match donor organs to patients, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Key highlights include:
1 Launching the OPTN
Nothing like the OPTN had ever existed before. UNOS helped unite an entire medical discipline under one national system, one set of rules, and an expectation of collaboration.
2 Establishing the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients
In 1987, after being awarded a contract by HHS to establish the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR), UNOS began collecting transplant program data. In 1992, UNOS published its first center-specific outcomes report.
3 Launch of UNet
In 1999, UNOS developed and launched UnetSM, the first highly secure, all electronic platform for organ matching, transplant data submission and reporting.
Before UNet, donor and transplant information was often shared by phone, fax, or mail. UNetSM transformed the system, laying the groundwork for electronic reporting, real‑time access to data, and integration with hospital medical record systems.
4 Launch of DonorNet
UNOS introduced DonorNet® in 2007, enabling transplant hospitals and OPOs to review detailed donor information and receive the first electronic organ offers, dramatically improving speed, transparency and coordination.
5 Offer filters
through its years of expertise in the field, UNOS developed offer filters, an innovation that proved so effective it was later adopted into OPTN policy to help transplant professionals better assess organ offers and patient outcomes.
6 The Organ Center
For more than four decades, The Organ Center’s organ placement specialists have assisted OPOs and transplant hospitals with the allocation of donated organs, arranging the transportation of organs and tissues for transplantation, and serving as a resource to the transplant community regarding organ sharing policies and technical assistance.
7 TransNet
This service automates the organ packaging and labeling process, ensuring that donated organs are successfully and efficiently matched to the identified recipient. TransNetSM helps transplant programs improve and streamline their organ check-in process and utilize the reporting capabilities to support compliance with the OPTN policy.
UNOS’ current role with the OPTN
Under its current contract within a multivendor OPTN environment, UNOS continues to provide critical operational expertise, technology, and coordination that help the national transplant system function effectively and reliably for patients and professionals across the country, while HRSA and other contractors oversee additional responsibilities.