OPTN Strategic Plan

Background

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) leads the network of transplant hospitals, organ procurement organizations, and thousands of volunteers dedicated to honoring the gifts of life entrusted to us and to making lifesaving transplants possible for patients in need. Over 100,000 people are waiting for a transplant and rely on the organ donation and transplant community to strengthen the system to provide equitable access to lifesaving organs to patients.

The OPTN’s Strategic Plan encompasses a comprehensive understanding of the most important factors that currently impact the transplant community and a focus on building trust through action on opportunities most impactful to the community and ultimately, the patients we serve. The OPTN achieves these goals through partnership, convening the transplant community to pursue innovation and improvement while maintaining patient safety.

View the Strategic Plan (PDF).

Key goals

The OPTN Strategic Plan is a roadmap to help prioritize major initiatives of the OPTN over a three-year period. It was approved by the OPTN Board of Directors in June 2024. The plan is not intended to be an exhaustive list of the OPTN’s work or focus areas. It includes flexibility for the Board to add or redirect as needed to capitalize on emerging opportunities.

Goal 1: Increase opportunities for transplants

Improve offer acceptance for deceased donation and enhance access to living donation to increase patients’ opportunities for transplant.

Objectives

Develop, implement, and effectively promote educational programs for patients and transplant programs focused on understanding offer acceptance and living donation.
Collaborate with stakeholders to improve offer and acceptance processes to increase consistency.
Collaborate with stakeholders to enhance access to living donor transplants.

Metrics

Increased organ offer acceptance rates, annually
Decreased variability in time from first offer to organ offer acceptance
Decreased median number of declines prior to organ offer acceptance
Increased number of living donor transplants, annually

Goal 2: Optimize organ use

Optimize organ use for transplantation, while improving equity to benefit all patients.

Objectives

Collaborate with stakeholders to identify and reduce key barriers influencing organ non‐use and non‐utilization, promoting best practices and effective strategies across the transplantation community.
Explore and evaluate allocation strategies for organs at high risk of non‐use.
Advance equity within the transplant system.

Metrics

Decrease non‐utilization rate for heart and lung
Decrease non‐use rate for kidney (stratified by KDPI group)
Decrease non‐use rate for liver (stratified by the combination of donor age and DCD status)
Improve equity: Access‐to‐Transplant Scores (ATS)

Key definitions

Non‐use rate: The proportion of deceased donor* organs recovered for the purpose of transplant, but not transplanted
Non‐utilization rate: The proportion of deceased donor organs not transplanted from all deceased donors

*Note: Deceased donors are individuals from whom at least one organ is recovered for the purpose of transplantation after declaration of death. All donors were assumed to have two transplantable kidneys and two transplantable lungs.

Goal 3: Enhance OPTN efficiency

Increase the efficiency of the OPTN through improvement and innovation to serve the greatest number of patients.

Objectives

Refine the policy development and implementation process to be more efficient, equitable, and strategically aligned.
Enhance OPTN data collection: increase availability of actionable data.

Metrics

Establishment of Quarterly Strategic Plan reviews, inclusive of metric reviews by Fiscal Year 2025
Improved policy development and implementation timeliness: Stratified by project type (for example, allocation, guidance, data collection, etc.)
Increased Policy Project Benefit

Goal 4: Support OPTN modernization initiatives

Collaborate to lay the foundation for the OPTN of the future.

Objectives

Develop and implement processes to effectively support the OPTN and OPTN Board of Directors.
Develop an effective partnership and ongoing collaboration with HHS and OPTN contractors.
Collaborate with HHS and OPTN contractors, to improve OPTN technology systems.

Metrics

Develop and implement feedback process for metrics of successful collaboration and challenges to collaboration (OPTN, HHS, and contractors) by the end of Fiscal Year 2025.

Questions and feedback