IT initiatives support transplant hospitals, OPOs and patients

Published on: Sunday, August 30, 2020

Three new Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network-funded IT projects underway aim to promote efficiency in donation and transplant, increase the number of transplants performed nationwide, promote living organ donor and transplant recipient safety, and improve transplant recipient outcomes.

UNet℠ Image Sharing

This past spring, a phased release began of UNet Image Sharing to organ procurement organizations (OPOs) across the country. As the first national hub for securely sharing high-quality medical imaging studies, it provides a consistent, secure and seamless imaging application in DonorNet®, the technology application that electronically manages organ offers by collecting and filtering data before sending offers to hospitals with compatible transplant candidates.

Having access to high-quality radiological images—and being able to probe for tissue density and see a video of the organ functioning—promotes patient safety by allowing transplant hospital staff to make more informed organ offer decisions.

Offer filters

This multi-phase project allows kidney transplant programs to bypass single kidney donor offers they do not want to receive through custom-designed, multi-criteria filters. Phase II launched in August and aims at improving the kidney offer process and increasing organ utilization across the country. The offer filters project aligns with the OPTN strategic goals of increasing the number of transplants and promoting efficiency in donation and transplants, especially of hard to place organs.

DonorNet Mobile℠

In early 2021, an upgraded DonorNet Mobile will be released to the transplant hospital community. Twenty transplant hospitals across the country are currently piloting the mobile-friendly website, and there are plans to add new features to it each month.

Originally released in 2007, DonorNet Mobile allows transplant hospital users to evaluate and respond to deceased donor organ offers from a mobile device. The new iteration will provide additional functionality and an enhanced user experience. Providing on-call surgeons, physicians and coordinators a broader array of donor and candidate information, in a mobile-friendly interface, allows them to respond rapidly to organ offers without the need to access a desktop computer.

Collectively, the three new OPTN-funded IT initiatives will improve processes and outcomes for transplant hospital staff, OPOs and patients, thus furthering the OPTN in the pursuit of achieving its strategic goals.