The Pancreas Transplantation Committee offers a proposal that will expedite organ placement by updating the mechanics of facilitated pancreas allocation. Such changes will combat a troubling trend of growing pancreas underutilization rates by shifting facilitated pancreas allocations from a list of volunteer programs to one of programs with a recent record of frequently importing pancreata external to their Donation Service Area (DSA). This proposal calls for the revision of Policy 11.7 by splitting it into two subsections; Policy 11.7.A: Transplant Program Qualifications outlines eligibility requirements for programs to participate while 11.7.B: Facilitated Pancreas Offers explains the process by which an organ procurement organization (OPO) or the Organ Center can use facilitated pancreas allocation. This proposal coincides with the first goal of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network’s (OPTN) Strategic Plan to increase the number of transplants by offering imported pancreata to those programs most likely to use them.
Read the full proposal