Skip to main content
Skip secondary navigation

UNOS News Bureau

(804) 782-4730

newsroom@unos.org

Heart equity data now available on the Equity in Access to Transplant dashboard

Published on: Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Heart equity data are now available on the Equity in Access to Transplant dashboard, accessible in the Data section of the website. The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network launched the equity dashboard in 2020 with liver, lung and kidney data.

Health equity is the ability for everyone to have a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible, no matter their social position. The equity dashboard monitors trends related to access to deceased donor transplants of heart, liver, lung, and kidney among active candidates on the waiting list, and identifies the biological and social factors most associated with disparities in access to transplant. Factors evaluated by the methodology include:

  • Donation service area, or DSA
  • Age
  • Body mass index, or BMI
  • Ethnicity
  • Urban/rural
  • Community risk score
  • Insurance type
  • Gender
  • Citizenship
  • Blood type
  • Other factors

The dashboard data derive from an Access to Transplant Score, or ATS, which summarizes into a single number an active candidate’s expected transplant rate given certain characteristics. Learn more about access to transplant scores in the 2017 Report on Equity in Access.

  • The heart data displayed in this dashboard are aggregated and do not present any candidate-level or center-level data.
  • The heart data will update on a quarterly basis, within approximately three months of the end of the previous quarter.
  • Heart results are based on 45 rolling periods of data.
  • The data are downloadable as excel spreadsheets.

OPTN prioritizes equity in access to transplant

The OPTN strategic plan, in alignment with the National Organ Transplantation Act (NOTA) and the OPTN Final Rule, prioritizes equity in access to transplant. OPTN committee volunteers work to increase equity in access by developing data-driven, patient-centric organ allocation policies that go through a transparent public comment process.

Questions?

Email dataproducts@unos.org with questions or feedback about OPTN data visualizations.