Status report available: follow-up data submission requirements
Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, transplant programs have voluntarily completed more than 70 percent of the follow-up forms listed below during the period in which the data submission relaxation emergency policy has been in place:
- Living donor follow-up form (LDF)
- Organ-specific transplant recipient follow-up form (TRF)
- Recipient malignancy form (PTM)
This data is critical to understanding transplant outcomes and to determining any needed additions or changes to policy requirements for potential donors and recipients with a history of COVID-19.
The OPTN Board of Directors will continue to assess when to end the amnesty period and what, if any, retrospective data collection the board will require. In the meantime, we encourage transplant programs to continue providing these forms whenever possible.
UNOS has prepared a report transplant programs can access in the UNetSM data services portal to view the degree of form completion their program has currently achieved under the emergency action, as well as comparative data to put in context with transplant programs nationwide. Transplant program directors and administrators will soon receive an email from UNOS with a customized summary for their program. In the meantime, program staff may access the report from the data services portal by selecting Data Quality and Amnesty Summary Report.
OPTN committee and regional meetings to be held virtually
The safety of our members is a top priority. Because of COVID-19 health concerns, all OPTN committee meetings, through March 23, and all winter 2021 regional meetings will be held virtually. A list of all scheduled meetings will be updated on the OPTN calendar of events webpage to reflect this change. For questions and requests, please email [email protected].
Reminder
Site surveys continue to be conducted virtually
Site surveys are still virtual. Member Quality staff are happy to talk with you about how to prepare for a virtual survey. Any member who is not able to participate in a survey at this time can request a delay by emailing [email protected].
Resource
American Journal of Transplantation focuses on COVID-19
November’s issue of the AJT focuses on COVID‐19, showcasing many of the decisions made, boundaries pushed, practices changed, models generated, and lessons learned as the transplant world adapted to the new normal. Topics include:
- Risks of kidney transplant in COVID-19 era
- Unforeseen consequences of the pandemic
- Strategies for liver transplant during COVID-19: Experience in France
- Waitlist and recipient mortality: Experience in England
- Kidney transplantation: Experience in Spain
- Transplant recipient outcomes at a large urban centers in the U.S.
- Outcomes in critically ill transplant recipients in the U.S.
- Organ donation during the pandemic
- Donor and recipient screening
Questions
For COVID-19 related policy and operational questions, email [email protected].
