2013 UNOS Annual Report

[Clark]

http://www.unos.org/docs/AnnualReport2013.pdf

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The number of transplant hospitals participating in our
national kidney paired donation (KPD) pilot program
grew to 134, making more transplants possible for
patients who are difficult to match with donors. In 2013,
our KPD program arranged 52 transplants. The KPD
program is truly a collaborative effort: it is funded in part
by the OPTN contract and by private sponsors.
• In early 2013, KPD participation guidelines became
OPTN policy, strengthening coherence among
participating transplant hospitals and improving safety
for the living donors. Other enhancements involved the
inclusion of bridge donors, increasing the number of
donors paired to each candidate and eliminating the
chain cap on non-directed donor chains. The national
KPD program is poised for growth in coming years.

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While transplantation by its nature can never be risk
free, we strive to make it as safe as possible, especially
for living donors. This year, we strengthened living
kidney donor policies by including specific requirements
for the independent donor advocate assigned to every
living donor.

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To assist members in accountability, we created
resources and checklists this year to help living donor
recovery hospitals develop their own site-specific tools
for ensuring compliance with new living donor policies.
• This fall we sent living kidney donor programs a report
of their donor follow-up rates. This information helps
programs assess how they can achieve the required
minimum follow-up thresholds for data reporting
established in OPTN policy