History & NOTA
To address the nation's critical organ donation shortage and improve the organ matching and placement process, the U.S. Congress passed the National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA; P.L. 98-507) in 1984. The act established the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) to maintain a national registry for organ matching. The act also calls for the network to be operated by a private organization under federal contract.
Following further study and recommendations from a task force commissioned through NOTA, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) solicited proposals in 1986 for the operation of the OPTN.
In 2000, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) implemented a final rule establishing a regulatory framework for the structure and operations of the OPTN.