Be thankful for a donor kidney, hopeful for others
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
I know what it is like to experience kidney failure and, thankfully, I am one of the fortunate few to receive a kidney transplant.
As the CEO of the National Kidney Foundation, I lead with a sense of urgency because I know how challenging life can be for patients living on dialysis and waiting to get their life back. Time is a luxury many patients with kidney failure do not have, so I feel a sense of responsibility to ensure that our health care system prioritizes the needs of our patient community.
Transplant initiative
At NKF, we welcome the recent plans announced by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to modernize the organ donation and transplant system. Current efforts still rely on antiquated technology and inefficient systems that create life-threatening bureaucracy and delays.
While the overall number of transplants has increased in recent years, it still falls far short of patient needs. More than 12 patients with kidney disease die daily waiting for a transplant, even as one in four donor kidneys are thrown away in part due to inefficiencies in the system. The move by the HRSA to redesign the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) contract will allow leaders in technology, artificial intelligence, supply chain management and other critical business operations to bring their ideas and talent to a system that is in desperate need of reform. While we are eager to see precisely what HRSA plans to do to improve the system and how it will separate the OPTN contract, we are confident that these reforms will lead to a more transparent, accountable and patient-centered system.
OPO performance
For example, organ procurement organizations (OPOs) have been scrutinized for underperformance, lack of data transparency and misuse of taxpayer dollars. While we acknowledge that OPOs have the difficult task of talking about organ donation during what could be one of the most challenging times for families, we want to ensure that each OPO is performing at a high level and held accountable for maximizing every organ donation opportunity.
This is equally true for donor hospitals and transplant centers. Hospitals are federally mandated to recognize and refer potential organ donors to local OPOs. Everyone (often via their family) should have the opportunity to decide if they want to continue their legacy through donation. Transplant centers must also be accountable for facilitating the transplantation of donated organs. Reforming the OPTN and contractor relationship will ensure that every entity within the organ donation and transplant ecosystem will be held to high standards to honor and optimize every potential gift of organ donation for transplant.
Kidney discards
An issue that keeps me awake at night is the increasing rate of kidney discards and the need to standardize organ acceptance behaviors. There must be more communication between nephrologists, transplant centers and patients.
Transplant centers decline kidney offers on behalf of patients without patients knowing why; we are not OK with this. Like donor hospitals and OPOs, we believe transplant centers must improve practices to increase transplantation.
Transparency
Kidney patients deserve a modernized, transparent, patient-centered, equitable organ donation and transplant system. We have gone on record many times to advocate for a system that is held accountable to promote high-performance standards because lives depend on it. Earlier this month, NKF launched Transplants for All, our mission to ensure that each person that needs a kidney transplant receives one. Transplants for All has three primary aims: increase deceased donation, increase living donation and increase health equity in kidney transplantation.
Patients experiencing organ failure want to feel normal again. They want to get back to living life on their terms, and we are committed to helping make this happen.
For more information:
- Kevin Longino can be reached at kevin.longino@kidney.org.
Collapse
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts