System notice: OPTN liver allocation policy reverted to DSA and regions

Published on: Wednesday, May 22, 2019

UNOS wants to reassure the donation and transplant community that despite the legal proceedings underway, donated livers continue to be allocated to patients on the waiting list; there is no disruption to this important work. Learn more below.

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) reverted to use of the donation service area (DSA) and regional distribution boundaries in effect prior to May 14, 2019. This action complies with a federal court order dated May 17, 2019.

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) remains in effect. Candidates’ currently assigned exception scores did 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 updated liver allocation policy is available in the Policies section of the OPTN website.
Online help documentation covering UNet functionality is also available.

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.