Evolution of quality at the Organ Center of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network/United Network for Organ Sharing

Abstract

One of the goals of the Organ Center of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network/United Network for Organ Sharing is to increase the efficiency of equitable organ allocation in the United States. Recognizing the ever-growing need for organ donors and transplants, leaders at the Organ Center increased its commitment to quality improvement initiatives through the development of a quality management team in 2001. The Organ Center began to focus on ways to capture data on processes and pinpoint areas for improvement. As the collection and analysis of data evolved, the Organ Center embraced formal quality standards, such as improvement cycles. Using these cycles, the Organ Center has seen significant improvement. One initiative involving lifesaving heart, lung, and liver placement showed success by doubling the Organ Center's organ placement rate. Another project involving the validation of donor information demonstrated that the accuracy of organ allocation can be improved by 5% on a consistent basis. As stewards for the gift of life and leaders in organ allocation, the Organ Center uses continuous quality improvement to achieve the goal of increasing the efficiency of equitable organ allocation.

Integrative review: indicators of result process of organ donation and transplants

“…O Estados Unidos da América, por intermédio das OPOs, desenvolve o acompanhamento das etapas do sistema de doação de órgãos e tecidos, bem como as causas de perdas por meio de indicadores de desempenho. 34,38,[59][60][61] Nota-se que o maior número de publicações (Quadros 1 e 2) propondo indicadores estava na base de dados bibliográfica PubMed, quando relacionadas ao processo de doação e transplante. Quando se avalia isoladamente a doação, o maior número de indicadores está nos artigos da base de dados da LILACS.…”

“…Alguns países como Espanha, Portugal, Itália, Estados Unidos da América e outros têm mudado essa realidade de maneira significativa. [36][37][38]41,42,[58][59][60][61][62] As listas de espera mostram a necessidade de transplantes, e as estatísticas de doação demonstram as perdas de possíveis doadores e as possibilidades de transplantes que se perdem a cada ano. Assim, faz-se necessário, portanto, a validação dos referidos indicadores, propondo com isso, num futuro breve a implantação de Programas de Qualidade aos serviços de doação/transplantes do Brasil.…”

Use of Lung Allografts from Brain-Dead Donors after Cardiopulmonary Arrest and Resuscitation

“…The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network's national computerized database of donor, waitlist, organ-matching, transplant, and posttransplant information as maintained by the UNOS was used for this analysis (referred to as the UNOS database) (23). Our study population included all U.S. adult lung transplantations as recorded in the UNOS database subsequent to the initiation of the lung allocation score (24) (effective May 4, 2005) through December 2011 to reflect current practice patterns for organ allocation and recipient demographics.…”

Psychiatric Issues in Pediatric Organ Transplantation

“…To maintain a contract with the United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees distribution of organs, a center has to perform a minimum number of transplants, and meet criteria on survival, complications, and services provided. Liver transplantation is therefore usually done at a regional center, with long-term follow-up coordinated though the regional center at the local hospital or clinics (20). …”