HRSA Announces Actions to Modernize the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network
According to a Mach 22 press release, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced a modernization initiative for the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).
The initiative will strengthen accountability and transparency through several actions:
- Data dashboards detailing data including organ retrieval, waitlist outcomes, and outcomes
- Modernization of the OPTN IT system
- HRSA intends to issue contract solicitations for awards to manage the OPTN
- The President’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget proposal to more than double investment in organ procurement and transplantation—$36 million increase over Fiscal Year 2023 for a total of $67 million
- A request to Congress included in the Fiscal Year 2024 Budget to update the National Organ Transplant Act to take actions such as:
- Removing the appropriations cap on the OPTN contract(s)
- Expanding the pool of eligible contract entities
The press release adds that “Today, HRSA is posting on its web site at Organ Donation and Transplantation (hrsa.gov) a new data dashboard to share de-identified information on organ donors, organ procurement, transplant waitlists, and transplant recipients. Patients, families, clinicians, researchers, and others can use this data to inform decision-making as well as process improvements. Today’s launch is an initial data set, which HRSA intends to refine over time and update regularly.”
Further, “This announcement also includes a plan to strengthen accountability, equity, and performance in the organ donation and transplantation system. This iterative plan will specifically focus on five key areas: technology; data transparency; governance; operations; and quality improvement and innovation. In implementing this plan, HRSA intends to issue contract solicitations for multiple awards to manage and improve the OPTN. HRSA also intends to further the OPTN Board of Directors’ independence through the contracting process and the use of multiple contracts. Ensuring robust competition in every industry is a key priority of the Biden-Harris Administration and will help meet the OPTN Modernization Initiative’s goals of promoting innovation and the best quality of service for patients.”
The release notes that HRSA realizes that modernization work is complex and the integrity of organ matching process is vital and cannot be disrupted. Therefore, this is why the organization will be guided and centered around key priorities and plans to engage a diverse group of stakeholders to ensure a human-centered design approach.
Carole Johnson, HRSA Administrator was quoted in the release saying that “Every day, patients and families across the United States rely on the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network to save the lives of their loved ones who experience organ failure. At HRSA, our stewardship and oversight of this vital work is a top priority. That is why we are taking action to both bring greater transparency to the system and to reform and modernize the OPTN. The individuals and families that depend on this life-saving work deserve no less.”
On March 22, the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) published a statement supporting the initiative.
The statement says that "The proposed changes respond directly to ASN’s advocacy for HRSA to improve care for kidney transplant patients and candidates, including the more than 75,000 Americans on the kidney waitlist, by increasing OPTN accountability and transparency as well as modernizing its underlying technology and policy infrastructure."
ASN President Michelle A. Josephson, M.D., was quoted in the statement saying that “ASN believes that patients’ access to kidney transplant care is of life-or-death importance, and strongly supports HRSA’s efforts to expedite reforms that will maximize access to transplant care. The policy changes announced today are a positive step in the right direction.”
“Ensuring OPTN’s technology systems are fully modernized and leveraging their capabilities is a foundational step to improving the transparency and efficiency of the kidney health ecosystem and is a prerequisite to achieving ASN's goal of maximizing access to kidney transplantation. I applaud HRSA’s public commitment to building that capacity and ensuring future systems better serve the needs of patients and their families,” Josephson comments.
