OPTN: Significant changes to pancreas allocation coming soon

[Clark]

http://transplantpro.org/significant-changes-pancreas-allocation-coming-soon/

Significant changes to pancreas allocation coming soon

In November 2010, the OPTN/UNOS Board of Directors approved a proposal that called for the development of an efficient and uniform, national Pancreas Allocation System. This new system will be implemented in the third quarter of this year.
Important changes to the allocation system
There will be consistent simultaneous kidney-pancreas criteria to qualify candidates to accrue waiting time by defining uremia for kidney transplantation and diabetes for pancreas transplantation
The kidney will follow the pancreas in allocation locally
Pancreata will be allocated to recipients on a combined pancreas/kidney-pancreas waiting list
And with these changes, pancreas allocation will be disentangled from kidney allocation altogether
UNOS is developing several resources to help you educate your patients and staff about the upcoming changes. We'll announce the availability of these resources in the monthly Transplant Pro e-newsletter and will archive them under the education and pancreas allocation tabs on the Transplant Pro website.