Dual and en bloc kidney changes in place

Audience

Kidney transplant program and OPO staff

At-a-glance

We have implemented both phases of the policy and system changes for dual kidney and en bloc kidney allocation.

• 7/29/2019: Phase 1 – Waitlist^SM
• 9/5/2019: Phase 2 – Policy and DonorNet^®

Instructional offerings that explain changes in phases 1 & 2 are available through UNOS Connect.

• Improving Dual and En bloc Kidney Allocation Policy (KID110) (15 minutes)
• Waitlist functionality: Improving Dual and En bloc Kidney Allocation (SYS142) (5 minutes)
• DonorNet Functionality: Improving En bloc and Dual Kidney Allocation (SYS 149) (9 minutes)

More details

The OPTN Board of Directors approved changes in December 2017. The Kidney Transplantation Committee sponsored two separate policy proposals to increase transplants, improve patient outcomes and increase efficiency.

Dual kidney allocation: Revised policy identifies which kidneys must be offered as dual kidneys and indicates when OPOs must make dual kidney offers. To increase efficiency in placing dual kidneys, the policy also requires kidney transplant programs to indicate in UNet which candidates are willing to accept dual kidney offers.

Transplant hospitals that wish to accept dual kidney offers will need to opt-in.

En bloc kidney allocation: New policy adds weight as required deceased donor information. Kidneys recovered from deceased donors who weigh less than 18 kg must be offered together (en bloc).

Kidney programs must now indicate in UNet which candidates are willing to accept en bloc kidney offers.

Contacts

• If you have questions about OPTN policy, please contact [email protected].
• For UNet^SM system questions, contact UNOS customer service at [email protected] or (800) 978-4334.