U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
The board establishes and maintains transplant policies (operational rules) and bylaws (membership requirements) that govern the OPTN. Find summaries of OPTN policy and bylaws changes approved at board and executive committee meetings, including implementation dates and any actions you need to take.
COVID-19 Policy Actions Implemented
The table below contains information for actions taken to address OPTN operational issues in the COVID-19 crisis.
| Policy | Summary | Documents & supporting resources | Effective date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Policy 1.4.F: Updates to Candidate Data during 2020 COVID-19 Emergency | This emergency policy will allow transplant programs to refresh candidate clinical data with data obtained through previous testing in order to maintain current waitlist priority. This policy prevents candidates who cannot undergo routine testing due to the COVID-19 crisis from being adversely affected on the waitlist. |
OPTN Policy Notice | March 17, 2020 |
| Policy 3.7.D: Applications for Modifications of Kidney Waiting Time during 2020 COVID-19 Emergency | This emergency policy allows transplant programs to submit a waiting time modification application to retroactively initiate waiting time for affected candidates. This policy prevents potential non-dialysis candidates who meet creatinine clearance or glomerular filtration rate (GFR) criteria from being disadvantaged because they cannot obtain other testing required. |
OPTN Policy Notice | April 3, 2020 |
| Policy 18.1: Data Submission Requirements Policy 18.2: Timely Collection of Data Policy 18.5.A: Reporting Requirements after Living Kidney Donation Policy 18.5.B: Reporting Requirements after Living Liver Donation |
This emergency policy change relaxes requirements for follow-up form submission. The intent of the policy is to prevent unnecessary exposure risk to transplant recipients and living donors, and also to alleviate data burden for centers in the midst of COVID-19 crisis. |
OPTN Policy Notice | March 13, 2020 |
Pending Implementation
Modify Lung TRF to improve post transplant lung function data
6/2018 Board action
Target implementation date: June 2020
Eliminate the use of regions in VCA distribution
6/2019 Board action
Target implementation date: June 2020
Creation of OPTN Heart and Lung Committees
3/2020 Board action
Target implementation date: July 1, 2020
Modify Data Submission Policies
12/2019 Board action
Target implementation date: October 2020
Establish pediatric training and experience
(Amend requirements for primary liver transplant physician)
6/2018 & 12/2015 Board actions
Target implementation date: December 2020
Revise pediatric emergency membership exception pathway
12/2017 Board action
Target implementation date: December 2020
12/2019 Board action
Target implementation date: December 2020
Kidney Removal of DSA
12/2019 Board action
Target implementation date: December 2020
Expedited Placement of Livers
12/2019 Board action
Target implementation date: December 2020
VCA - List covered body parts - 1 of 2
6/2016 Board action
Target implementation date: June 2021
VCA membership bylaws requirements
6/2015 Board action
Target implementation date: June 2021
Changes to islet bylaws
12/2018 Board action
Target implementation date: June 2021
Align VCA program membership requirements with other programs
6/2018 Board action
Target implementation date: June 2021
Implemented
2020
Modify HOPE Act variance to include other organs
6/2019 Board action
Effective date: May 21, 2020
COVID-19 Emergency Policy Package (PDF - 765 K)
04/2020 Executive Committee action
Effective date: April 3, 2020
Clarifications on reporting maintenance dialysis
6/2019 Board action
Effective date: April 1, 2020
Updates to Candidate Data during 2020 COVID-19 Emergency (PDF - 644 K)
03/2020 Executive Committee action
Effective date: March 17, 2020
Variances Removal Policy Notice (PDF - 639 K)
12/2019 Board action
Effective date: March 1, 2020
Clarification of Pre-Existing Liver Disease
12/2019 Board action
Effective March 1, 2020
12/2018 Board action
Effective February 27, 2020
Access for urgent liver candidates in Hawaii & Puerto Rico
01/2020 Executive Committee action
Effective February 18, 2020
Liver and Intestine distribution using distance from donor hospital
12/2018 Board action
Effective February 4, 2020
Reduce reporting burdens and clarify policies on extra vessels
6/2018 Board action
Effective January 29, 2020
- Table 16.1: Required information on internal labels for extra vessels, number 7 (donor infectious disease results)
Update transplant hospital definition
12/2016 Board action
Effective January 13, 2020
Eliminate the use of DSAs in thoracic organ distribution
6/2019 Board action
Effective January 9, 2020
2019
Adding DR Antigens and Equivalences
12/2019 Board Action
- Effective December 4, 2019
Hope Act Policy and Mini Brief (PDF - 1,409 K)
12/2019 Board action
- Effective December 3, 2019
Modify Appointment Process for the Histocompatibility Vice Chair
12/2019 Board Action
- Effective December 3, 2019
Aligning Units of Distribution in Closed Variance for Split Liver Transplantation
12/2019 Board Action
- Effective December 3, 2019
Split liver variance
6/2019 Board action
- Effective December 3, 2019
Revising Priority Points in Kidney Paired Donation Program
12/2015 Board action; 10/2019 Executive Committee action
- Effective October 24, 2019
Improving dual kidney allocation
12/2017 Board action
- Effective September 2019
Improving en bloc kidney allocation
12/2017 Board action
- Effective September 2019
Changes to waiting time criteria for kidney-pancreas candidates
6/2018 Board action
- Effective 7/11/2019
Guidance on effective practices in organ distribution
6/2019 Board action
- Effective 6/10/2019
Ethical implications of multi-organ transplants white paper
6/2019 Board action
- Effective 6/10/2019
Revised national liver review board policies (PDF; 12/2018)
12/2018 Board action
- Effective 5/14/2019
National liver review board
6/2017 Board action
- Effective 5/14/2019
Histocompatibility bylaws rewrite: General supervisor (PDF - 306 K)
6/2015 Board action
- Effective 3/1/2018
Pancreas program functional inactivity
12/2018 Board action
- Effective 4/8/2019
Addressing HLA typing errors12/2018 Board action
- Effective 3/1/2019
- Policy 2.2 (OPO responsibilities)
- Bylaws C.2.D (OPO affiliation)
Amend CPRA calculator
1/2019 Executive Committee action
- Effective 1/17/2019
2018
Change to hospital-based OPO voting privileges
12/2018 Board action
- Effective 12/4/2018
Frameworks for organ distribution
12/2018 Board action
- Effective 12/4/2018
Pediatric transition and transfer guidance
12/2018 Board action
- Effective 12/3/2018
Intestine membership bylaws requirements
6/2015 Board action
- Effective 11/20/2018
Modify adult heart allocation
12/2016 Board action
- Effective 10/18/2018
Clarification of adult heart allocation
8/2017 Executive Committee action
- Effective 10/18/2018
Review board guidance on HCM and RCM exceptions
6/2018 Board action
- Effective 10/18/2018
Modifications to the distribution of deceased donor lungs
6/2018 Board action
- Effective 10/18/2018 (Policy 6.6.F)
- Effective 6/12/2018 (Policies 1.2, 10.2.A, 10.4)
Clarify informed consent policies for transmittable diseases
6/2018 Board action
- Effective 9/1/2018
Reduce reporting burdens and clarify policies on extra vessels
6/2018 Board action
- Effective 9/1/2018 (except table 16.1)
VCA - List covered body parts (2 0f 2)
6/2016 Board action
- Effective 9/1/2018
Improving the efficiency of organ allocation
12/2017 Board action
- Effective 3/1/2018 (Policies 2.2, 2.11 and 2.12)
- Effective 5/2/2018 (Policies 1.2 and 5.6.B)
- Effective 6/12/2018 (Policies 2.11.A and 2.11.D)
- Effective 6/13/2018 (Policy 5.6.C)
Revising OPTN Bylaws Appendix L
6/2018 Board action
- Effective 6/12/2018
Retrospective review of clerical policy changes
6/2018 Executive Committee action
- Effective 6/12/2018
Approved transplant fellowship training programs Bylaws (PDF - 302 K)
12/2017 Board action
- Effective 3/1/2018
Definition of pancreas graft failure (PDF - 40 K)
6/2015 Board action
- Effective 2/28/2018
Modification to HCC extension criteria (PDF - 344 K)
- Effective 2/5/2018
2017
HCC auto approval criteria changes
12/2016 Board action; 12/2017 Executive Committee action
- Effective 12/12/2017
Lung allocation policy modification (PDF - 565 K)
11/2017 Executive Committee action
- Effective 11/24/2017
Standardize organ coding and tracking system
2/2017 Executive Committee action
- Effective 11/01/2017
Improve the categorization of living donor events (PDF - 135 K)
9/2017 executive committee action
- Effective 10/18/2017
Add DQA-1 equivalences table
6/2016 Board action; 6/2017 Executive Committee action
- Effective 9/12/2017
Update HLA equivalency tables
12/2015 Board action; 4/2017 Executive Committee action
- Effective 9/12/2017
Personnel procurement requirements
12/2015 Board action
- Effective 9/1/2017
Foreign equivalent in bylaws
12/2015 Board action
- Effective 9/1/2017
Bylaws rewrite
6/2017 Board action
- Effective 9/1/2017
Primary kidney transplant physician update
12/2016 Board action
- Effective 9/1/2017
Clarification to apply kidney minimum acceptance criteria to highly sensitized candidates
(PDF - 142 K)
7/2017 Executive Committee action
- Effective 9/1/2017
Simultaneous liver-kidney allocation
6/2016 Board action
- Effective 8/10/2017
Kidney: KAS clarifications (part)
6/2016 Board action
- Effective 6/29/2017
Retrospective review of clerical changes to policies
6/2017 Executive committee action
- Effective 6/29/2017
Informed consent changes - potential living donors
12/2016 Board action
- Effective 6/1/2017
Improving post-transplant communication (part)
6/2016 Board action; Required toxoplasmosis testing of all donors
- Effective 4/6/2017
Pediatric lung allocation changes
12/2015 Board action
- Effective 3/30/2017
All other KPD guidelines to policy (part)
6/2015 Board action
- Effective 3/30/2017
Post-implementation ABO policy changes (PDF - 141 K)
12/2016 Board action
- Effective 3/1/2017
Primary transplant surgeon changes
12/2016 Board action
- Effective 3/1/2017
Primary transplant physician subspecialty changes
12/2016 Board action
- Effective 3/1/2017
Remove donor location from required procurement log (PDF - 482 K)
12/2016 Board action
- Effective 3/1/2017
Changes to imminent and eligible definitions (PDF - 150 K)
12/2016 Board action
- Effective 1/1/2017
2016
Retrospective review of clerical changes to policies (PDF - 223 K)
12/2016 Executive committee action
- Effective 11/10/2016
Registration fee (PDF - 25 K)
6/2016 Board action
- Effective 10/1/2016
DTAC policy clarification (PDF - 19 K)
6/2016 Executive Committee action
- Effective 9/1/2016
OSC policy clarification (PDF - 126 K)
8/2016 Executive Committee action
- Effective 9/1/2016
HOPE Act (PDF - 34 K)
6/2016 Board action
- Effective 9/1/2016
Improving post-transplant communication (part)
6/2016 Board action
- Effective 9/1/2016
Kidney: KAS clarifications (part)
6/2016 Board action
- Effective 9/1/2016
Regional Councillor vacancy (PDF - 37 K)
6/2016 Board action
- Effective 9/1/2017
Living donor candidate registration (PDF - 20 K)
4/2016 Executive Committee action
- Effective 4/14/2016
Retrospective review of clerical changes to policies (PDF - 191 K)
12/2016 Executive committee action
- Effective 4/14/2016
2015
KPD informed consent
6/2015 Board action
- Effective 12/1/2015
Other Actions
12/2015 Board actions (PDF - 2,532 K)
11/2015 Executive committee actions (PDF - 146 K)
OSC - ABO policy updates (PDF - 159 K)
6/2015 Board action
KPD updates (PDF - 54 K)
6/2015 Board action
Pancreas updates (PDF - 40 K)
6/2015 Board action
POC updates (PDF - 21 K)
6/2015 Board action
OPO Committee updates (PDF - 20 K)
6/2015 Board action
VCA Committee updates (PDF)
6/2015 Board action
11/2014 Board actions (PDF - 1,444 K)
Clerical changes to KP transition plan policy (PDF - 167 K)
9/2014 Executive Committee action
Register living donor candidates before transplant (PDF - 21 K)
8/2014 Executive Committee action
6/2014 Board actions - 1 (PDF - 2,147 K)
6/2014 Board actions - 2 (PDF - 207 K)
3/2014 policy corrections (PDF - 97 K)
Clarification for OPOs on PHS guideline documentation (PDF - 293 K)
1/2014 action
11/2013 Board actions (PDF - 422 K)
8/2013 Executive Committee actions (PDF - 124 K)
6/2013 board meeting actions (PDF - 1,452 K)
Discretionary listing of pediatric lung transplant candidates (PDF - 136 K)
6/2013 action
5/2013 Executive committee actions (PDF - 124 K)
11/2012 Board actions (PDF - 2,051 K)
Liver Committee updates (PDF - 394 K)
6/2012 Board actions
Thoracic Committee updates (PDF - 369 K)
6/2012 Board actions
Changes to policy, bylaws and kidney paired donation guidelines (PDF - 1,227 K)
5/2012 actions
New post transplant requirements for liver programs (PDF - 378 K)
4/2012 actions
Looking for something else? Contact us at unoscommunications@unos.org or (804) 782-4800. We maintain an archive of historical OPTN documents.