The board approved substantial amendments to OPTN policy for deceased donor kidney allocation. Implementation of the policy is expected to occur at the end of 2014.
Features of the policy include the following:
- prioritization of kidneys with longest estimated function to a limited number of candidates expected to benefit the longest
- wider geographic allocation of kidneys with shorter potential function, to increase utilization for candidates facing a significant mortality risk remaining on dialysis long-term
- definition of waiting time expanded to include time a patient spent on dialysis prior to waiting list registration
- a sliding scale of priority for candidates with high PRA, as well as matching of blood subtype A2 and A2B offers for candidates with blood type B, and
- elimination of the kidney payback system and existing kidney allocation variances.
