SRTR announces monitoring changes for July 2021 reports in response to COVID-19
The semi-annual transplant program-specific reports (PSRs) and organ procurement organization (OPO)-specific reports (OSRs) published by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients will be adjusted for the July 2021 reporting cycle. The SRTR will implement the following:
- Post-transplant outcomes (including 1-month, 1-year, and 3-year graft and patient survival): Evaluation cohorts will continue to exclude transplants and follow-up time beyond March 12, 2020.
- Waitlist mortality rate: Evaluation cohorts will be modified on an organ-specific basis.
- Transplant rate: The first quarter following declaration of a national emergency will be excluded from the transplant rate evaluations for all organ types.
- Overall rate of mortality after listing: Patient follow-up will continue to be truncated on 3/12/2020.
- Offer acceptance rate: These evaluations will return to normal reporting cohorts.
- Eligible death conversion rate:Eligible deaths during the first quarter of the national emergency will be excluded from evaluation.
- Deceased donor organ yield: Deceased donors during the first quarter of the national emergency will be excluded from evaluation.
These changes were developed in coordination with the OPTN’s Membership and Professional Standards Committee. Find more details.
Reminders
“Amnesty” status will end for all follow-up forms due on or after April 1; Retrospective forms due July 1
Regular OPTN policy requirements for collecting and submitting living donor follow-up (LDF), organ specific transplant recipient follow-up (TRF), and recipient malignancy (PTM) forms will resume effective April 1, 2021. The OPTN had temporarily suspended these requirements as part of emergency actions to assist member institutions in the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After April 1, all required forms will resume their expected submission dates as indicated in policy and will no longer be placed in “amnesty” status. Transplant hospitals will have until July 1, 2021, to complete forms that had been placed in amnesty status between March 13, 2020 and March 31, 2021.
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, as well as comparative data to put in context with transplant programs nationwide. The report is also accessible from the data services portal by selecting Data Quality and Amnesty Summary Report.
Transplant administrators will continue to receive weekly updates regarding their program’s status in completion of expected follow-up forms.
Transplant programs are expected to complete follow-up forms with as much data as available. Keep in mind for a number of fields where the patient was not seen or where data cannot be recreated as of the form due date, options exist to report that the data are unavailable.
Transplant hospitals have completed and submitted more than 90 percent of forms to date. Thank you for your commitment to continuing to provide this important information. The data collected on follow-up forms is vital for the OPTN and SRTR to continue to evaluate patient outcomes, policy effectiveness and patient safety, and to help members assess quality and identify opportunities for improvement.
Details will be added to the OPTN and UNOS websites as soon as available.
The latest information known for minimizing the risk of donor-derived COVID-19 transmission while maximizing donor utilization
The OPTN has released a Summary of Evidence on SARS-CoV-2 donor evaluation and testing, as well as organ recovery from donors with a history of COVID-19.
The document was compiled by the OPTN Ad Hoc Disease Transmission Advisory Committee (DTAC) in collaboration with colleagues representing AST, ASTS, AOPO, HRSA, and the CDC. It contains information on the following:
- SARS-CoV-2 deceased donor evaluation and testing
- Recovery of organs from deceased donors with a history of resolved COVID-19
- Recovery of organs from deceased donors with active COVID-19
- SARS-CoV-2 living donor testing and other precautions to minimize the risk of donor-derived COVID-19
- Recovery of organs from living donors with a history of resolved COVID-19
DTAC will review the document quarterly.
Public comment open: Provide your feedback
Open until March 23. Read the policy proposals and papers, view proposal summaries, watch an educational video, and review presentations on the OPTN website. The OPTN committees value your input and consider all comments when developing final proposals to submit to the OPTN Board of Directors.
Resources
Lower respiratory tract testing: Resource lists tests authorized by the Food and Drug Administration to analyze lower respiratory tract specimens.
COVID-19 vaccination information for patients: VCU Health: COVID-19 vaccines and transplant patients—is vaccination safe?
New
COVID-19 vaccination in heart and lung transplantation: Recommendations from the International Society of Heart & Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) COVID-19 Task Force
Questions
For COVID-19 related policy and operational questions, email [email protected]
