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UNOS supports the Living Donor Protection Act
UNOS is proud to continue supporting the Living Donor Protection Act, providing vital protections for living organ donors.
UNOS statement on the 2023 OPO Public Performance Report by CMS
UNOS supports working with CMS to increase accountability and improve the performance of our nation’s 56 OPOs.
UNOS appoints new CEO
Maureen McBride, Ph.D., chosen to lead the organ donation and transplant community through time of change and opportunity.
UNOS supports the Living Donor Protection Act
UNOS is proud to continue supporting the Living Donor Protection Act, providing vital protections for living organ donors.
UNOS statement on the 2023 OPO Public Performance Report by CMS
UNOS supports working with CMS to increase accountability and improve the performance of our nation’s 56 OPOs.
UNOS appoints new CEO
Maureen McBride, Ph.D., chosen to lead the organ donation and transplant community through time of change and opportunity.
UNOS welcomes competitive bidding process for next OPTN contract
We are committed to working with government partners and all who care about serving donors, patients and their families.
New lung allocation policy in effect
First organ type to use continuous distribution framework.
Another record year for heart transplants: Steep increases seen in DCD transplants in 2022
February is American Heart Month
Predictive analytics tool now available to all kidney programs
Innovative new technology helps transplant hospitals make the right match for their patients
UNOS launches first national liver paired donation pilot program
The UNOS LPD pilot program aims to increase the number of living liver donations.
2022 organ transplants again set annual records
Total kidney transplants exceeded 25,000 for the first year ever; annual records also set for liver, heart and lung transplants.
Waiting time adjustment approved for kidney transplant candidates affected by race-based calculation
Previous use of race-based calculations disadvantaged some Black patients by overestimating their kidney function.
Update: CPRA calculation
The new formula for Calculated Panel Reactive Antibody (CPRA) will now go into effect on Jan. 26, 2023.
Nominees chosen for 2023 Board of Directors election
Voting members will receive election materials in January 2023.
7,000 organs tracked with UNOS Organ Tracking Service
30% of all OPOs use the UNOS Organ Tracking Service to monitor organs in transit.
A pivotal moment for the organ donation and transplant community
McBride addresses public concerns, calls for collaboration and shares vision for the future.
UNOS seeks new CEO to be voice for diverse needs of organ donation and transplant community
UNOS looks forward to completing the process and announcing the new CEO in the spring of 2023.
Kidney – Pancreas
Annual kidney allocation calculator updates
Reference populations have been updated for the KDPI and EPTS calculators.
Predicting the future to help patients today
New tool offers never-before-seen insights on the impact that accepting or declining an organ offer could have on a patient.
UNOS supports the Living Donor Protection Act
UNOS is proud to continue supporting the Living Donor Protection Act, providing vital protections for living organ donors.
Liver – Intestine
Improvements to MELD and PELD: Phase 1 (data entry) in effect June 15
Data entry to support Phase 2 implementation in July.
UNOS supports the Living Donor Protection Act
UNOS is proud to continue supporting the Living Donor Protection Act, providing vital protections for living organ donors.
Updated National Liver Review Board HCC guidance in effect April 28, 2023
Clarifications made to diagnostic criteria.
Heart – Lung
Lung CAS summary data updated
Information for lung transplant program physicians, surgeons, transplant coordinators, program directors and data coordinators on the distribution of scores for all active registrations waiting for lung transplants in the U.S.
Pediatric Status 1A and 1B heart and heart-lung candidates may have expanded access to intended incompatible blood type offers
On March 16, 2023, the OPTN Executive Committee approved immediate implementation of a key portion of. the recently proposed policy to expand eligibility criteria.
New lung allocation policy in effect
First organ type to use continuous distribution framework.
VCA
VCA coming to UNet Sept 14, 2023
Allocation of all Vascularized Composite Allograft (VCA) organs that were originally scheduled to move into UNet in Spring 2023, will now implement on Sept. 14.
VCA coming to UNet Spring 2023
Audience VCA programs All UNetSM users (for awareness) Implementation date Spring 2023 At-a-glance Allocation of all Vascularized Composite Allograft (VCA) organs will be moving into UNet starting in the Spring of 2023. Additional details There is no action needed...
Improving the system together
Predicting the future to help patients today
New tool offers never-before-seen insights on the impact that accepting or declining an organ offer could have on a patient.
OPO partners with Black history museum to increase organ donor registrations
Kia Potts tells us how LifeNet Health and a Richmond-area cultural institution worked together to change lingering misconceptions about organ donation.
What are the barriers to wider use of organ perfusion?
Q&A: David Klassen, M.D., on the promise, and challenges to wider use, of normothermic perfusion.
UNet
New image study viewer available in DonorNet
New image study viewer provides improved image quality, especially on mobile devices, along with enhancements to the viewer tools.
Coming Soon: New image study viewer in DonorNet
Interactive viewer displays in the Image Studies table on the Test tab in DonorNet and the Image studies menu item in DonorNet Mobile.
Important information about attachments in DonorNet
Starting Nov. 1, users will no longer be able to attach files to donor records in DonorNet® via email or fax. Users will need to utilize the other tools available to upload attachments to donor records.
“… policy is the living, breathing expression of group values.”
Martha Pavlakis, M.D. on new policies that put patients first
Policy changes
Improvements to MELD and PELD: Phase 1 (data entry) in effect June 15
Data entry to support Phase 2 implementation in July.
Updated National Liver Review Board HCC guidance in effect April 28, 2023
Clarifications made to diagnostic criteria.
OPTN data collection changes coming Sept. 14
On Sept. 14, multiple updates will be made to UNet to implement approved OPTN Policy changes that affect OPTN data collection.
Policy monitoring
One-year monitoring report for the Pediatric National Heart Review Board now available
Report contains summary level information on the exception request decisions made by the Pediatric National Heart Review Board.
Three-month monitoring report for heart policy following a device recall now available
Report shows key measures of adult heart allocation based on policy changes implemented in July 2022.
Two-year monitoring report available for the elimination of the use of DSAs in heart allocation
A new data report contains key measures of adult heart allocation based on policy changes implemented in January 2020.
Learn: Collaborative improvement and educational resources
IN FOCUS
New milestone reached in kidney donation and transplant
For the first time, more than 25,000 kidney transplants were performed in a single year
Collaboration
Public comment now open through March 15
The winter 2023 public comment cycle opened Jan. 19 and closes March 15.
National collaborative focusing on organ offer acceptance to launch at the end of January 2023
More than 80 transplant programs are participating in the project; a virtual option for the in-person kickoff event is available to the entire community.
UNOS using a collaborative improvement model to increase DCD lung transplantation
29 lung transplant programs are participating in the project.
Collaborative improvement project helped OPOs increase DCD transplant in 2021
Project participants experienced more DCD recoveries and transplants than the rest of the nation.
Education
TMF 2023 Heckenkemper Award winner: Marian O’Rourke, RN, CCTC honored
The donation and transplant community recognizes Marian O’Rourke for her decades of contributions to patients and professionals.
TMF 2023 presenter Robert Montgomery, M.D., D.Phil., on increasing organ supply with xenotransplantation
TMF session to explore threats to the organ supply and alternative, renewable solutions.
Community update: Policy development based on continuous distribution
Updates on the status of each of the continuous distribution initiatives from Board of Directors President Jerry McCauley, M.D.
Dissecting the grief cycle: TMF 2023 presenter Nona Dawson-Land on coping with trauma in the workplace
TMF session to focus on understanding loss and grieving cycles in the transplant space.
Learn about issues impacting patients, donors, donor families, and the national system. Issues and advocacy
Perspectives
From UNOS leaders
Updates from TMF, HRSA’s Modernization Initiative and government outreach
Being at TMF reminded me that there could not be a better time to be the CEO of UNOS. I am so pleased to be leading our community into the future as we continue to save lives, even during these times of immense change.
Matthew Cooper, M.D. emphasizes collaboration before nation’s transplant surgeons
The best outcome for patients in this country will be achieved by working together collaboratively to drive improvement rather than being divided.
Driving system-wide progress to better serve patients
A package of proposals to make improvements across the nation’s organ donation and transplant system, promote public trust and most importantly, help us save more lives.
From the community
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.
Driving toward optimal equity: Vincent Casingal, M.D.
Transplant surgeon on the success of the new kidney allocation policy.
““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
Voluntary recall of Becton, Dickinson CD5 Series of Genesis sterilization containers
Read the complete recall notice for details.
One-year monitoring report for the Pediatric National Heart Review Board now available
Report contains summary level information on the exception request decisions made by the Pediatric National Heart Review Board.
Three-month monitoring report for heart policy following a device recall now available
Report shows key measures of adult heart allocation based on policy changes implemented in July 2022.
Transplant hospital
Reminder: Patient status options for TRF forms
Reminder of Patient Status options available to members. Please continue to complete TRF forms as they are assigned with the appropriate patient status.
New store for OPTN transport labels
The OPTN transport label distributor has changed. Users will need to create a new account when logging in for the first time.
Coming soon: New OPTN transport label store
The OPTN transport label distributor will be changing April 27. Users will need to create a new account when logging onto the new label store for the first time.
OPO
Important information about attachments in DonorNet
Starting Nov. 1, users will no longer be able to attach files to donor records in DonorNet® via email or fax. Users will need to utilize the other tools available to upload attachments to donor records.
UNOS statement on the 2023 OPO Public Performance Report by CMS
UNOS supports working with CMS to increase accountability and improve the performance of our nation’s 56 OPOs.
New store for OPTN transport labels
The OPTN transport label distributor has changed. Users will need to create a new account when logging in for the first time.
Histocompatibility
Implementation notice: CPRA calculation change
CPRA >98% signatures must be entered in Waitlist for the candidate to receive additional allocation priority.
Update: CPRA calculation
The new formula for Calculated Panel Reactive Antibody (CPRA) will now go into effect on Jan. 26, 2023.
FAQ for patients: CPRA calculation change
We’ve put together some frequently asked questions to help patients wondering about the upcoming change.
What happened in public comment? See what the community had to say. View comments
The U.S. surpassed 1 million transplants in 2022
The gifts of generous donors and their courageous families made several lifesaving transplant records possible.
Stories and tributes
Each person touched by organ donation transplant has a unique story. Threads of hope connect them. Find videos, stories and tributes