Improving organ transplant donations through a national strategy

Across the United States, around 100,000 organ donations are needed each year and an average of 28,000 transplants are performed across the country. 

Despite the ongoing need for donated organs for transplant, many donated organs end up being discarded for various reasons. 

Although there are valid reasons for some, ranging from the condition of an organ to the equipment and personnel available to perform the operation, certain factors remain unknown in why different institutions deem donated organs unfit for use.

As such, for patients on the waitlist for an organ, the wait becomes longer when one is thrown away. 

Making a change

The Organ Procurement and Transplant Network, which oversees the rules around organ distribution for transplant procedures across the United States, is now enlisting the help of health care institutions across the country for a special task force, called the Expeditious, to remedy the situation by 2026. 

“They are looking to increase the amount of transplant procedures done a year in the United States from 28,000 to 60,000; about a 2% increase from the current numbers of the top performing hospitals for transplant procedures in the country and a 58% increase in deceased donor transplants overall,” said Silas Norman, M.D., a clinical professor of nephrology at University of Michigan Health and an officer at large for the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network.

“To do this, there needs to be a better understanding of the barriers that institutions face when it comes to performing transplant procedures and not discarding organs. While some of these factors are known, each institution is different and the more information that is gathered, the more barriers in performing transplant operations can be addressed.”

Michigan’s part

As part of this project, the University of Michigan Health Transplant Center will be one of the institutions helping to give feedback over the next two years. 

The Transplant Center will provide OPTN with information about the barriers they see when it comes to performing these types of surgeries.

“They recognize that donating an organ to save a life is a gift and they want to be able to use this gift to its full capacity,” said Norman.

“As the largest transplant center in Michigan, the University of Michigan Health Transplant Center feels it’s important to work with this task force to ensure that this gift is utilized to its fullest potential, not only in this state, but across the country for all who are waiting to receive an organ donation.”

With the information provided, OPTN will begin working to implement strategies to assist institutions in increasing the amount of organ transplant operations they can perform, with the goal of decreasing the number of discarded organs hospitals experience each year.

Sign up for Health Lab newsletters today. Get medical tips from top experts and learn about new scientific discoveries every week.

Sign up for the Health Lab Podcast. Add us wherever you listen to your favorite shows.