COVID-19 Emergency Policies and Data Collection

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At a glance

What is the purpose of this proposal?

The COVID-19 emergency has greatly impacted routine medical care. To lower the risk of spreading COVID-19, most hospitals cut back on non-emergency visits. Transplant programs are required to do regular lab testing and clinical procedures for living donors, transplant candidates and recipients which involves routine visits to healthcare facilities. Requirements were modified or suspended by the OPTN Executive Committee to protect patient safety by lessening the potential for COVID-19 exposures. In addition, transplant programs accepting donor organs need to know if COVID-19 testing was performed. Data elements were added to collect this information.

COVID-19 Emergency Policies and Data Collection

Brian Shepard, CEO of UNOS, reviews the COVID-19 Emergency Policies and Data Collection policy proposal.

Terms you need to know

• DonorNet^®: The OPTN computer system that is used to register deceased donors, match organs, and review organ offers and placement.
• Organ Procurement Organization (OPO): An organization authorized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, under Section 1138(b) of the Social Security Act, to procure organs for transplantation.
• Transplant hospital: A health care facility in which transplants of organs are performed.
• Waiting Time: The amount of time a candidate is on the Wait List.

Click here to search the OPTN glossary

What feedback is requested?

The OPTN would like feedback on actions taken to help the transplant community during the pandemic while still promoting patient safety. For all of these, the Executive Committee would like to know:

• Were these the right actions?
• How long should they stay in effect?
• Do you support use of the emergency action pathway for these changes?

Actions taken:

• Updates to Candidate Data
  • If a transplant hospital is unable to bring a candidate in for updated lab testing they are allowed to reuse previously reported results for that candidate.
  • This only applies to candidates already on the waiting list.
• Relax Data Submission Requirements for Follow-up Forms
  • Transplant hospitals have to regularly check in with transplant recipients and living donors after their surgeries.
  • Since patients may not be able to see their doctor, transplant hospitals are not required to complete follow-up data.
• Modifications to Kidney Wait Time Initiation for Non-Dialysis Candidates
  • Kidney patients who are not on dialysis can qualify for wait time based on certain lab values, but wait time does not begin until the patient is added to the waiting list.
  • During the pandemic, transplant hospitals may have difficulty completing all necessary testing and doctors’ visits in order to list these kidney patients.
  • Once listed, transplant hospitals can now apply to change the patient’s wait time to begin on the date the program selected the patient as a candidate before all necessary testing requirements were met.
• COVID-19 Infectious Disease Testing in DonorNet^®
  • COVID-19 donor testing status and results were added to DonorNet to help OPOs and transplant programs communicate this important information in a standard way.