Pre-implementation notice: OPTN liver allocation policy to revert to DSA and regions May 23, 2019
Published on: Sunday, May 19, 2019
Key audiences:
Liver transplant program directors, surgeons, physicians, administrators, clinical coordinators and data coordinators; compliance and quality managers; clinical support staff; OPO executive directors and procurement directors/managers
Implementation date:
May 23, 2019
At-a-glance
On May 23, 2019, OPTN Policy 9 (Allocation of Livers and Liver-Intestines) will revert to use of the donation service area (DSA) and regional distribution boundaries in effect prior to May 14, 2019. This action is being taken in compliance with a federal court order dated May 17, 2019.
The UNOS Secure EnterpriseSM system, which includes UNetSM and other transplant applications such as WaitlistSM, DonorNet®, TIEDI® and KPDSM, will be unavailable for a brief period the morning of May 23 to allow for implementation. These services will be offline from 7:00 a.m. EDT until approximately 8:00 a.m. EDT. Please save all data prior to this time.
In all instances, organ procurement organizations and liver transplant programs should continue to follow the match run generated in UNetSM for liver donors and potential recipients.
The National Liver Review Board (NLRB) will remain in effect. Candidates’ currently assigned exception scores will not change. As always, transplant programs may request individual exception scores for candidates by the procedure set forth in OPTN Policy 9.4 (MELD or PELD Score Exceptions).
Resources
The allocation policies in effect as of system implementation will be posted to the Policies section of the OPTN website.
Online help documentation covering UNet functionality is also available.
The UNOS website houses additional information relating to liver policy developments and will be further updated as needed.
Questions?
If you have questions about data or information systems, contact UNOS Customer Service at 800-978-4334. For policy-related questions, send an e-mail to member.questions@unos.org.