Reduce Reporting Burdens and Clarify Policies on Extra Vessels

Read the full proposal (PDF - 482 KB) (1/2018)

This proposal would change requirements when extra vessels are shared among transplant hospitals. Members would no longer need to submit a justification to the Membership and Professional Standards Committee (MPSC). Instead, they will report sharing to the OPTN Contractor through the existing extra vessels reporting system in UNet^sm implemented in August 2015. The justification requirement is no longer needed. Reporting sharing through UNet is already occurring and assures tracking capabilities. The justification reviews have not found any associated policy violations. The requirement creates unnecessary burden without benefit for transplant hospitals, the MPSC, and staff. Proposed IT programming will allow OPOs to view extra vessel dispositions from donors that they recovered.

This proposal would change extra vessels policy labeling requirements for infectious disease results by narrowing labeling from “all” to only “HIV, hepatitis B (HBV), and hepatitis C (HCV)” results. This will facilitate aligning test results and names among OPTN Contractor IT systems (e.g. DonorNet^®, TransNet^sm) and the label that currently have inconsistencies. A TransNet barcode will be added to the label to allow scanning and accessing all infectious disease results available in DonorNet.

This proposal will align policy language with the Final Rule indicating that vessels (including extra vessels) are considered part of the organ with which they are recovered and subject to applicable requirements. Some current policies need clarifications, exclusions, or deletions to fit within the federal regulation logic and framework.

Specific question

The Committee is seeking feedback on what additional infectious disease testing is conducted due to donor travel history or other local protocols but is not mandated by national policy (e.g. Strongyloides) so that these tests can be considered as possible optional additions in DonorNet.