11/23+ OPTN Organ Allocation Changes

The OPTN Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation Committees will host a November 23, 2020 webinar on Information for Transplant Candidates about Upcoming Changes to Kidney and Pancreas Policies. These changes are intended to create more consistent access to kidney, pancreas, and kidney-pancreas transplants. The new policies include updates to the definition of medical urgency, and changes to the allocation of organs and prioritization of candidates, which will be based on distance rather than regions. Organs from Alaska will be allocated based on distance from Seattle.

The new policies will take effect December 15, 2020, and transplant centers can revise their candidate urgency information to take advantage of the new policies starting December 1. Find details about the changes at https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/news/pre-implementation-notice-removal-of-dsa-and-region-from-kidney-and-pancreas-allocation-to-go-into-effect-dec-15/ and register for the webinar at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/2542491307617944591.

New Reports: USRDS, OPTN, SRTR, UNOS

The US Renal Data System (USRDS) 2019 Annual Data Report: Epidemiology of Kidney Disease in the United States has been released on paper.  The online version was released in November 2019.  Find the Report at https://www.ajkd.org/issue/S0272-6386(19)X0003-7, and the USRDS ADR page at https://www.usrds.org/adr.aspx.

The Annual Data Report of the OPTN and SRTR (the US Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network and the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients) is now available, documenting data pertaining to the period 2007-2018.  Find it at https://srtr.transplant.hrsa.gov/annual_reports/2018_ADR_Preview.aspx.  Find the OPTN home page at https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/ and SRTR at https://www.srtr.org/.

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) has published new vision and mission statements.  Find them at https://unos.org/news/introducing-unos-new-mission-and-vision/.