OPTN/UNOS board places Baptist Memorial Hospital on probation

Published on: Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Richmond, Va. – At its meeting today, the OPTN/UNOS Board of Directors placed Baptist Memorial Hospital on probation. Baptist Memorial Hospital is a member transplant hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

As established in the OPTN bylaws, probation is a public designation of an OPTN/UNOS member that is executing a corrective action plan for noncompliance with OPTN policies or bylaws, or a serious lapse in patient safety or quality of care. Learn more.

Summary of Events

Baptist Memorial Hospital has been identified as having lower than expected heart transplant patient and graft survival rates since July 2010. These lower-than-expected outcomes have persisted despite external reviews and the hospital’s completion of a plan for quality improvement.

The OPTN/UNOS Membership and Professional Standards Committee (MPSC) conducted a systematic review of this issue, including reviewing the member’s compliance history and holding an MPSC interview with the representatives of the institution on July 9, 2014. After the interview, the MPSC concluded that the hospital required close monitoring as the hospital continues its quality improvement process. Baptist Memorial Hospital waived its right to a hearing with the MPSC.

After the member waived its right to a hearing, the MPSC recommended that Baptist Memorial Hospital be placed on probation. On a conference call meeting on October 3, 2014, the OPTN/UNOS Board of Directors approved the MPSC's recommendation and placed Baptist Memorial Hospital on probation.

United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) serves as the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) by contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Division of Transplantation. The OPTN brings together medical professionals, transplant recipients and donor families to develop national organ transplantation policy.