in focus
2019 was a record-setting year for living donation, with 7,397 living donor organ donations performed across the country — far exceeding the 2004 record of 6,992, and increasing the nationwide rate by 5.8 percent.

Across the country, living donor organ transplants are on the rise — with no sign of slowing down.
The record-setting increase follows a steady trend. Between 2014 and 2019, the number of living donor kidney transplants in the U.S. increased 24 percent and the number of living donor liver transplants climbed 87.1 percent, according to data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.
One living donor liver transplant program increased their volume by more than 600 percent in just two years.
Transplant teams across the country are taking deliberate steps to make the living donation procedure available to more people through creative strategies such as:
- Crowdsourcing living donors.
- Using online portals to streamline the donor identification and evaluation process.
- Dedicating resources to the kidney paired donationcomponent of transplant programs.
- Educating the next generation of organ donation and transplantation professionals.
As these transplant teams across the country expand the donor pool in their regions, they are setting a precedent that they hope other programs will follow.
How else is the donation and transplant community working together to increase living donation? Read more about what members are doing to save more lives.
Want to learn more about living donation? Get started here.
In focus

OUT tool now allows OPOs to see movement of organs across the country
Enhancements to OUT (Organ Utilization Tool) give insight into organ movement, timing of responses and use of provisional yes at each program.

Collaborative improvement project helped OPOs increase DCD transplant in 2021
Project participants experienced more DCD recoveries and transplants than the rest of the nation.

Kidney transplants set new record in 2021 following policy change
The new policy helped increase the number of kidney’s transplanted, but the system is still changing to help more people.

Heart transplant sets all-time record in 2021
31,238 lifesaving heart transplants have been performed at hospitals across the country over the past decade.