Restructuring the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network contract to achieve policy coherence and infrastructure excellence

• Published in: American journal of transplantation Vol. 19; no. 6; pp. 1622 - 1627
• Main Authors: Gentry, Sommer E., Segev, Dorry L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.06.2019; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Decision making; editorial/personal viewpoint; ethics and public policy; Health Policy; Humans; Infrastructure; law/legislation; Living Donors; Medical ethics; organ allocation; organ procurement and allocation; organ procurement organization; Organ Transplantation - legislation & jurisprudence; Organ Transplantation - standards; Scientific Registry for Transplant Recipients (SRTR); Software; Tissue and Organ Procurement - legislation & jurisprudence; Tissue and Organ Procurement - standards; Transplantation; Transplants; Transplants & implants; United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS); United States; Waiting Lists; Waiting period; United States; ethics and public policy; law/legislation; IT; organ allocation; Scientific Registry for Transplant Recipients (SRTR); OPO; MMRF; editorial/personal viewpoint; RFI; organ procurement organization; organ procurement and allocation; HRSA; SRTR; RFP; United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS); OPTN
• ISSN: 1600-6135; 1600-6143
• DOI: 10.1111/ajt.15161

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) went up for competitive bid again this year, yet this contract has been held by only 1 entity since its inception. The OPTN’s scope has grown steadily, and it now embraces several disparate missions: to operate the computing and coordination infrastructure that maintains waitlists and makes organ offers in priority order, to regulate transplant centers and organ procurement organizations, to follow and protect living donors, and to decide organ allocation policy in concert with the many voices of the transplant community. The contracting process and performance work statement continue to discourage both innovative approaches to the OPTN and competitive bids outside of United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), with evaluation criteria that either disqualify or strongly disadvantage new applicants. The performance work statement also emphasizes bureaucratic tasks while obligating the OPTN contractor to the specific committee structure that has impeded decision-making and tended to preserve the status quo in controversial matters. Finally, the UNOS computing infrastructure is antiquated and requires months to years to implement small changes. Restructuring the OPTN contract to separate the information technology requirements from the policy/regulatory responsibilities might allow more nimble and effective specialty contractors to offer their capabilities in service of the national transplant enterprise.