System of Donor Hospital Transplant Coordinators Maintained and Financed by National Transplant Organization Improves Donation Rates, But It Is Effective Only in One Half of Hospitals

Impact of Donation Physicians on Deceased Organ Donation: A Systematic Review

Background:

An emerging strategy to increase deceased organ donation is to use dedicated donation physicians to champion organ donation. We sought to conduct a systematic review of the effectiveness of donation physicians in improving organ donation outcomes.

Objective:

A systematic review was conducted following Cochrane principles. MEDLINE, Embase, and CINHAL databases were searched from inception to March 26, 2020.

Methods:

Quantitative studies examining the effects of donation physicians on all deceased organ donation outcomes were considered for inclusion. Review articles, editorials and opinion articles, and case studies were excluded. Study selection was completed independently by 2 team members; all discrepancies were resolved by consensus. Two team members independently extracted data from studies.

Results:

A total of 1017 studies were screened, and 12 met inclusion criteria. Included studies were published between 1994 and 2019. Half used an interrupted time series design (n = 6; 50%), 3 (25%) were cohort studies, and 3 (25%) used a before-and-after study design. Outcomes (reported in greater than 50% of included articles) included consent/refusal rate (n = 8; 67%), number of potential donors (n = 7; 58%), and number of actual donors (n = 7; 58%). Across studies and design types, there was an increase in potential organ donors ranging from 8% to 143% (Mdn = 33%), an increase in actual organ donors from 15% to 113% (Mdn = 27%), an increase in donor consent rate from −3% to 258% (Mdn = 12%), and an increase in deceased donor transplants from 13% to 24% (Mdn = 19%) following the introduction of donation physicians.

Conclusions:

Donation physicians have the potential to significantly improve deceased organ donation. Further implementation and evaluation of donation physician programs is warranted. However, implementation should be undertaken with a clear plan for a methodologically rigorous evaluation of outcomes.

Obtaining tissues and organs: empowering actions of nurses in the light of ecosystem thinking

OBJECTIVES

to analyze, in the light of ecosystem thinking, the actions of nurses that stimulate the potential to increase the rates of organ and tissue donation.

METHODS

descriptive, exploratory, mixed method study, of the embedded type, with simultaneous realization and emphasis on the quantitative approach, including 125 nurses from the Intra-hospital Commission for Donation of Organs and Tissues for Transplants in the Southern Region of Brazil. Data were collected using an online survey questionnaire. Quantitative data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software; and qualitative, Bardin content analysis.

RESULTS

the identified actions refer to the reception of the family, exclusive dedication and remunerated valorization of the nurses of the commission, media and dissemination campaigns for society in general and educational actions for the training of professionals.

CONCLUSIONS

the results of the actions encourage the possibility of increasing the rates of organ and tissue donation for transplantation.

Systematic review of hospital-level metrics and interventions to increase deceased organ donation

BACKGROUND

Efforts to ameliorate the organ shortage have predominantly focused on improving processes and interventions at multiple levels in the organ donation process, but no comprehensive review of hospital-level features contributing to organ donation exists. We undertook a systematic review of the literature to better understand current knowledge and knowledge gaps about hospital-level metrics and interventions associated with successful organ donation.

METHODS

We searched six electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Health Business Elite, and Google scholar) and conference abstracts for articles on hospital-level features associated with the final outcome of organ donation (PROSPERO CRD42020187080). Editorials, letters to the editor, and reviews without original data were excluded. Our main outcomes were conversion rate, donation rate, number of organs recovered, number of donors, and authorization rate.

RESULTS

Our search yielded 2177 studies, and after a thorough assessment, 72 articles were included in this systematic review. Studies were thematically categorized into 1) Hospital-level interventions associated with metrics of organ donation; these included patient- and family-centric measures (i.e. standardized interviews, collaborative requesting and decoupling, and dedicated in-house coordinators), and donor management goals that significantly increased conversion rates by up to 64%; 2) Hospital-level multi-stage programs/policies; which increased authorization rates between 30 and 50%; and 3) Hospital characteristics and qualities; being an academic center, trauma center and larger hospital correlated with higher authorization and conversion rates. Most studies had considerable risk of bias and were of low quality.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a lack of well-designed studies on hospital-level metrics and interventions associated with organ donation. The use of thoughtful, patient- and family-centric approaches to authorization generally is associated with more organ donors. Future work can build on what is known about the hospital role in organ donation to improve the entire organ donation process.

Assessment of Organ Donation Potential From Brain-Dead Donors in Polish Hospitals Using Quality Systems: System Of Donor Hospital Transplant Coordinators and Web-Tooled System of Monitoring Intensive Care Unit Deaths

INTRODUCTION

In 2010 Poltransplant organized a national network of donor hospital transplant coordinators involved in the recruitment of potential deceased organ donors. One of the employed coordinators' tasks is monitoring donation potential at hospitals and reporting their results with the use of a tele-information tool www.koordynator.net.

BACKGROUND

The aim of our study was to evaluate the organ donation potential at hospitals in 2018 based on the analysis of reports and on the comparison of these results with organ donation indicators elaborated within the European Commission project entitled Improving the Knowledge and Practices in Organ Donation (DOPKI).

METHODS

Reports concerning deaths were applied to a retrospective analysis regarding a possibility to diagnose deaths according to neurologic criteria and to detect possible donations. In total, 1214 reports from 116 hospitals were delivered to the tele-information system during 2018. The analysis was made based on 840 full monthly reports from 70 hospitals. Numbers and indicators connected to the organ donation potential, both in the hospital and the intensive care unit (ICU) scales, have been calculated: numbers of beds and admissions, total number of deaths, deaths due to reasons frequently leading to death according to neurologic criteria, number of brain death diagnoses, and number of organ donations.

RESULTS

In the scales of hospital and ICU the studied indices showed the following: 1. distinctly lower ratios related to brain death determination in the total number of beds, admissions, deaths, and deaths with selected International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) codes in comparison with DOPKI results and 2. distinctly higher ratio of donations in the total number of brain deaths confirmed (69%) in comparison with DOPKI (42%).

CONCLUSIONS

Based on obtained data from respective hospitals, the analysis showed the following in comparison with data coming from international European study (DOPKI): 1. low frequency of brain death determination procedures in the total number of deaths in Polish hospitals and ICUs, probably also in cases where such mechanism of death has occurred (the discrepancy may reach 1974 cases per year) and 2. high percentage of donations in the total number of brain-dead persons (conversion index), which may be caused by successful authorization of donation and acceptance of risky donors and organs by transplant teams but (what is more probable) may be explained by the ICUs' habit that procedures of brain death protocol is implemented only in cases when donation is expected.

Hospital Profiling and Hospital Stratification System as a Step for Assessment the Potential of Organ Donation From Deceased Donors

AIM

To be able to calculate the potential of organ donation from deceased donors in a single hospital, region, and country, it is necessary to develop a useful stratification system for all hospitals taking into account their characteristics in having or not having departments crucial for donor identification and recruitment, such as an intensive care unit (ICU or neurology and neurosurgery departments), number of beds, and patient profiles (pediatric vs adult).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

There are 1032 hospitals in Poland, and 388 have facilities and tools to confirm death according to neurological criteria. These hospitals with the potential of deceased donation were characterized accordingly to the criteria presented above.

RESULTS

The largest group of institutions were first-degree referral hospitals having ICUs only for adults (161 hospitals), followed by hospitals with ICU and stroke departments for adults (76), then hospitals for adults with ICU and neurological department with no stroke beds (25), and hospitals for adults with second-degree referral and with ICU, stroke departments, and neurosurgery. In the case of pediatric patients and possible pediatric organ donation, the largest group consisted of 5 hospitals with pediatric ICU, pediatric neurology, and pediatric neurosurgery units. The remaining hospitals were unique in the country range. An exemplary analysis of 1 of the 40 stratified groups (19 out of 388 hospitals) showed that differences in actual activity in the donation process between similar hospitals are significant (from 0 to 62 donations in a 3-year period).

CONCLUSION

We believe the results of this study are fundamental for the calculation of potential donation in the country. Our thesis is that hospitals from the same group should have the same potential and should be active in donation process on the same level. Formal comparative analysis of historical data on donor referral from active and nonactive hospitals will allow us to estimate the lost numbers of possible donations and will help focus efforts to improve transplantation systems.

The Model of Postgraduate Studies for Transplant Coordinators in Poland: 500 Graduates in the Years 2007-2015

BACKGROUND

Since 2007, the Medical University of Warsaw has been organizing the Transplant Coordinators Postgraduate Studies, which are funded by the National Programme for the Development of Transplantation Medicine. The aim of the studies is to recruit medical professionals for every hospital with the potential of deceased donations. The goal of the present study was to formally evaluate the previous 16 editions of Transplant Coordinators Postgraduate Studies by assessing graduate profiles and analyzing the efficiency and sustainability of their education.

METHODS

Graduate profiles were determined by gathering sociodemographic information contained in student records. Training efficiency and sustainability were defined by assessing the actual performance of the coordinators' functions in the hospital after taking the course.

RESULTS

As of May 2015, the number of Transplant Coordinators Postgraduate Studies graduates totals 501. Approximately one half of the graduates (n = 248) had nursing degrees; training was also finished by 199 physicians, and 54 individuals had other medical education. The number of graduates per million population across the whole country totals 13. A total of 226 of the graduates (45%) were employed in the years 2007-2015 in hospitals as transplant coordinators; physicians (93 graduates), nurses (107 graduates) and other medical proffessionals (26 graduates).

CONCLUSIONS

The academic formula of the Transplant Coordinators Postgraduate Studies funded by public sources makes it possible to educate practicing staff (physicians and nurses alike) for a nationwide system of donor hospital transplant coordinators posted in >200 hospitals and maintained by a national transplant organization.