Our goals are to:
- Achieve and sustain a 75% conversion rate or higher
- Achieve and sustain an observed vs expected transplant ratio of 1.05 or higher
Learning Session I was a great success, and attendees have returned to their centers invigorated and in action about improving their hospital’s donation performance outcomes. Reflecting on the Learning Session, we asked a few attendees for their perspectives. Here’s what they had to say:
Dr. Jacqueline Urtecho, Neurointensivist, Division of Trauma and Neurocritical Care, Jefferson University Hospitals
“The field of organ donation and transplantation is rapidly changing through the development of new technology. Physicians must continue to have an honest dialogue with the OPO and be open to adapting their practices to meet the changes as they occur.”
Dr. Niels Martin, Section Chief, Traumatology, Penn Presbyterian 
Medical Center
“Attending the Donor Management Summit was a great way, as an Intensivist, to get on the same page with the OPOs, in terms of critical care resuscitation and hemodynamic optimization. Reviewing the current data (both from the national meeting and our local data), I certainly walked away recognizing that we have real opportunities to improve the outcomes in our region. The Summit has definitely fostered an improved working relationship and is already facilitating future quality improvement work; including catastrophic injury guidelines.”
Dr. Denise Torres, Director of Trauma Surgery, Geisinger Medical Center
“It was great to be surrounded by so many people who are working for a common cause- the optimal care of organ donors so that organ recipients have the best outcomes. One of the most interesting presentations was how one health system used their EMR to trigger faster referrals to their OPO. They found it greatly reduced the time from admission to referral and improved their outcomes. I thought this was ingenious and hope that we can incorporate something like this at Geisinger.”
Where Are We Now?
We are in “Action Period I”. Transplant Centers and Gift of Life are collaborating to introduce small changes (PDSA cycles) and other strategies from a Change Package intended to fine tune the process and ultimately help to get more patients transplanted. This work is being spearheaded by Transplant Center “Improvement Teams”. We will bring all the teams back together on Thursday, October 19, 2017 at our Philadelphia Office to share results and experiences and to facilitate the spread and replication of practices.
