Expedited liver placement

Proposal Overview

Status: Implemented

Sponsoring Committee: Organ Procurement Organization (OPO)

Strategic Goal: Increase the number of transplants

Policy Notice 12/19 (PDF - 765 K)

View the Board Briefing Paper (11/2019)

Read the proposal (PDF; 8/2019)

Contact: Pete Sokol

At a glance

Here’s what we propose and why

Sometimes when OPOs are already in the operating room with the donor, they will hear from transplant centers that they no longer want to receive the liver they accepted for their candidate. When this happens, the OPO has to act quickly to try and place the organ elsewhere. Because we have no current policy in place that specifically addresses this situation, we are proposing an idea that would make it easier for OPOs to place these types of organs quickly and reduce the chance that they are discarded without being transplanted. If transplant centers are interested in receiving an offer of this type, this proposed policy would require them to report specific information in advance. It would also give OPOs specific guidance on how to conduct these cases, including the amount of time the transplant center has to respond, so that all expedited offers are handled consistently and uniformly across the country.

Why this may matter to you

This policy change would give OPOs early access to a list of transplant centers who are interested in accepting this type of offer for their candidate. This means OPOs could begin making back up plans before they ever enter the operating room.

Transplant hospitals would have the opportunity to indicate their willingness to accept an expedited liver offer, but in order to participate they would be required to enter specific acceptance criteria in advance.

Tell us what you think

Would this proposal help OPOs more quickly place livers that are turned down in the donor operating room?
During a previous public comment, many people were concerned that initiating expedited placement in the donor operating room was too late in the process. Does allowing OPOs to identify expedited liver candidates on the original liver match run address that concern?