On April 28, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published their 2023 Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) Annual Public Aggregated Performance Report (Excel spreadsheet).
UNOS supports the recently announced efforts to improve the U.S. organ donation and transplantation system, and that includes working with CMS to increase accountability and improve the performance of our nation’s 56 OPOs.
Deceased organ donor recovery increased 39 percent nationwide between 2018 and 2022, and we are pleased with the role the nation’s OPOs have played in that lifesaving effort.
At the same time, we acknowledge that there is significant room for improvement, and we are eager to continue our work with the nation’s OPOs, CMS, Congress and others to deliver on the promise to save as many lives as possible through organ donation and transplantation.
The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) is also working in earnest to improve OPO performance. As a part of that effort, in 2022 the OPTN Membership and Professional Standards Committee (MPSC) undertook a new project to review its existing OPO performance measures to better hold OPOs accountable.
To capture a more holistic view of OPO performance, UNOS hopes that CMS will soon expand their tier system to take more factors – such as demographics and geography – into account when developing OPO rankings. We are also eager to receive greater clarity regarding the transition processes for OPOs facing decertification.
It will take all stakeholders working together – including UNOS, CMS, OPOs and Congress – to ensure accountability, drive performance and promote progress; not just in one area of donation and transplantation, but across the entire system.
