By organ
By program
UNet
Policy
Patient safety
Improvement
Learn
Perspectives
COVID
All
Top stories
U.S. surpassed 48,000 organ transplants in 2024
UNOS advocates for reforms to strengthen the system
Leslie and Bill Carruth awarded annual Lisa Schaffner Community Advocate Award
Donor parents recognized for promoting organ, eye and tissue donation
UNOS CEO Urges Congressional Action on Lifesaving Reforms
Proposes critical ways to strengthen the nation’s transplant system
U.S. surpassed 48,000 organ transplants in 2024
UNOS advocates for reforms to strengthen the system
Leslie and Bill Carruth awarded annual Lisa Schaffner Community Advocate Award
Donor parents recognized for promoting organ, eye and tissue donation
UNOS CEO Urges Congressional Action on Lifesaving Reforms
Proposes critical ways to strengthen the nation’s transplant system
UNOS and Donate Life America invite you to honor donors
Join National Tree of Life live stream December 16
UNOS continuously strengthens the security of the OPTN IT system
Cybersecurity protections for OPTN IT system
UNOS remains committed to strengthening the system
The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) reinforces its unwavering commitment to serving the nation’s organ donation and transplant community and patients through its contract with the federal government.
UNOS applauds introduction of the Organ Donation Referral Improvement Act
UNOS thanks U.S. Reps. for important bipartisan legislation
UNOS applauds House action to prohibit discrimination in organ transplants
UNOS CEO thanks House, urges Senate action
UNOS responds to House subcommittee hearing
UNOS responds to House subcommittee hearing held Sept. 11, 2024.
Andrew Klein, M.D. named UNOS Chief Medical Officer
UNOS welcomes new CMO
UNOS responds to inquiry by Sens. Wyden, Grassley about new Chief Technology Officer
Sens. Wyden and Grassley expressed concern about the hiring of UNOS CTO Ankit Mathur. UNOS sets the record straight with an official response.
UPDATE: UNOS responds to inaccuracies in Bloomberg Law article
Bloomberg Law published an article about allegations of conflicts of interest involving UNOS Chief Technology Officer Ankit Mathur. UNOS challenges these defamatory claims and sets the record straight.
UNOS applauds U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee for increasing funding for the OPTN Modernization Initiative
UNOS statement applauds Senate Appropriations Committee for OPTN Modernization funding increase
UNOS welcomes new chief legal officer
Elizabeth “Emy” Trende joins as general counsel overseeing legal strategy
UNOS applauds passage of FAA reauthorization bill
Workgroup to review organs transported via commercial flights
Kidney – Pancreas
Now available: Predictive analytics in desktop DonorNet
These predictions are intended to supplement, not replace, existing data and clinical judgment.
Deceased kidney donors recovered increase six-months post-implementation minimum donor criteria for kidney biopsies
Early data shows a six percent increase of deceased kidney donors recovered in the post-policy era compared to the pre-policy era.
Black kidney candidates are receiving waiting time modifications, helping them get the organs they need
Latest kidney monitoring report shows two new kidney polices are working as intended
Liver – Intestine
Liver treatment options added for HCC exception candidates
Additional diagnosis code changes to be implemented in a later phase.
Offer Filters for liver and heart now available
Offer Filters adds data-driven, multi-criteria filters to organ offers at a program level.
Coming soon: Offer Filters for liver and heart allocation
The Offer Filters tool will become available for heart and liver transplant programs in UNet on June 13.
Heart – Lung
Lung CAS summary data updated
Information for lung transplant programs on the distribution of scores for all active registrations waiting for lung transplants in the U.S.
Implementation notice: Standardize six-minute walk for lung allocation
New policy requirement in effect that requires lung transplant programs to perform an oxygen titration test ahead of initial the six-minute walk test.
Pre-implementation notice: Standardize six-minute walk for lung allocation
A new policy requirement is going in effect that will require lung transplant programs to perform an oxygen titration test ahead of the initial six-minute walk test.
VCA
VCA Uterus no longer needs body part selection- effective March 27, 2024
The OPTN’s data collection for vascularized composite allografts (VCAs) in UNet SM
will no longer require body part selection for uterus registered candidates according to VCA committee guidance which specified the body parts (uterus, vagina, cervix).
Extra Vessels included in TIEDI® for VCA
TIEDI® permissions for Vessels Reporting have been added to all 10 VCA organs within Security Administration. These permissions allow designated users either full access or read only access, similar to existing permissions for non-VCA organs. Ensure permissions established before March 6, 2024.
Two guidance documents updated
Resources address VCA donation, geographically endemic infections
Improving the system together
2023: a year of more lives saved
Celebrating memories made and milestones reached, thanks to the gift of life.
Embracing new ideas to increase DCD donation
One year later, three participants share their perspectives on the benefits of the collaborative learning experience.
UNOS research: Insights from the American Transplant Congress
“There is so much intellectual capital assembled at UNOS to study and evaluate the transplant system and find ways to improve through research and analytics.”
UNet
Liver treatment options added for HCC exception candidates
Additional diagnosis code changes to be implemented in a later phase.
Offer Filters for liver and heart now available
Offer Filters adds data-driven, multi-criteria filters to organ offers at a program level.
New enhancements added to DonorNet
The enhancements give users quicker access to member contact information and more visibility of the most recent donor record update.
“… policy is the living, breathing expression of group values.”
Martha Pavlakis, M.D. on new policies that put patients first
Policy changes
Implementation notice: Standardize six-minute walk for lung allocation
New policy requirement in effect that requires lung transplant programs to perform an oxygen titration test ahead of initial the six-minute walk test.
Pre-implementation notice: Standardize six-minute walk for lung allocation
A new policy requirement is going in effect that will require lung transplant programs to perform an oxygen titration test ahead of the initial six-minute walk test.
Transplant programs, OPOs must specify second Patient Safety Contact as of July 25
The secondary contact will be notified if the primary cannot be reached.
Policy monitoring
Deceased kidney donors recovered increase six-months post-implementation minimum donor criteria for kidney biopsies
Early data shows a six percent increase of deceased kidney donors recovered in the post-policy era compared to the pre-policy era.
Black kidney candidates are receiving waiting time modifications, helping them get the organs they need
Latest kidney monitoring report shows two new kidney polices are working as intended
Lung transplant rates continue to increase six months post implementation of new lung policy
Lung-alone transplants have increased by 11.2 percent.
Learn: Collaborative improvement and educational resources
IN FOCUS
A decade of record increases in liver transplant
10,660 liver transplants, the most ever in a year.
Collaboration
Embracing new ideas to increase DCD donation
One year later, three participants share their perspectives on the benefits of the collaborative learning experience.
Learning Congress planned for OPTN DCD Lung Transplant Collaborative
The Sept. Learning Congress, open to all adult lung programs, will mark the conclusion of eight-month collaborative focused on increasing DCD lung transplantation.
Public Comment open from July 27 through Sept. 19, 2023
The OPTN is offering 14 items for review.
Education
Let us know what you think!
The 2024 UNOS Connect survey is available to all users with a UNOS Connect account and is open from Nov. 12 to Dec. 3.
TMF 2024 Heckenkemper Award Winner: Nancy Metzler honored
"We have the unique privilege as transplant administrators to support our team as they turn a tragedy into a miracle." Nancy Metzler The Annual Heckenkemper Leader in Transplant Administration / Quality Award (also known as the Heckenkemper Award) is given each year...
Effective practices
Learn about collaborative improvement projects
Learn about issues impacting patients, donors, donor families, and the national system. Issues and advocacy
Perspectives
Why I volunteer: Valinda Jones, M.S.N., RN, kidney recipient
Board member describes the vital role of volunteers with personal experience in donation and transplantation.
Giving and the Gift of Life: Lindsey C. Jennings, Manager, Philanthropy
There is no greater expression of one’s love for humanity than choosing to become an organ donor.
The liver allocation policy is a success we need to share: Terry Box, M.D., liver recipient
Box’s op-ed highlights how effective policy development is resulting in sicker patients getting liver transplants faster.
Leadership news
OPTN Task Force sets goal of achieving 60K transplants by 2026
The OPTN Expeditious Task Force embarks on ambitious project to save more lives, increase efficiency
OPTN Board approves improvements to reporting of potential patient safety events
Process for reporting enhanced, clarified.
President signs new law increasing competition for OPTN contract
We are committed to working with HRSA, Congress, the wider donation and transplantation community and other stakeholders to ensure the best possible system for patients, donors and their families.
“The dozens of topics presented at TMF shared one thing—our community’s dedication to doing everything we can to constantly improve the system and better serve the patients who rely on us.”
Patient safety
Transplant programs, OPOs must specify second Patient Safety Contact as of July 25
The secondary contact will be notified if the primary cannot be reached.
Two guidance documents updated
Resources address VCA donation, geographically endemic infections
OPTN Board approves improvements to reporting of potential patient safety events
Process for reporting enhanced, clarified.
Transplant hospital
Implementation notice: Standardize six-minute walk for lung allocation
New policy requirement in effect that requires lung transplant programs to perform an oxygen titration test ahead of initial the six-minute walk test.
Pre-implementation notice: Standardize six-minute walk for lung allocation
A new policy requirement is going in effect that will require lung transplant programs to perform an oxygen titration test ahead of the initial six-minute walk test.
Coming soon: Offer Filters for liver and heart allocation
The Offer Filters tool will become available for heart and liver transplant programs in UNet on June 13.
OPO
Coming soon: Offer Filters for liver and heart allocation
The Offer Filters tool will become available for heart and liver transplant programs in UNet on June 13.
Mandatory training and UNet user audit opens Feb. 28, 2024
Beginning Feb. 28, 2024, site security administrators will have four weeks to complete the required audit of their UNet users. Prior to completing the audit, site security administrators must complete the updated training course UNet Security Administration (SYS 150)...
Latest in reporting positive post procurement donor results
A new permission in Security Administration was added today for transplant programs. Starting Feb. 28, Transplant Programs will be able to view and acknowledge receipt of these notifications from a new dashboard in DonorNet. The dashboard will be visible only to hospital users who have this new permission to acknowledge these notifications.
Histocompatibility
CPRA >98% form for highly sensitized candidates removed
All candidates with a CPRA above 98% continue to be prioritized on the match appropriately.
Coming soon: CPRA >98% form removal for highly sensitized candidates
Transplant hospitals will no longer be required to obtain signatures and update candidate registrations when a candidate’s CPRA is above 98%. There are no changes needed for OPOs.
Member actions required: data collection and VCA implementation
Patient care will not be impacted during this time.
Stories and tributes
Each person touched by organ donation transplant has a unique story. Threads of hope connect them. Find videos, stories and tributes