The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has announced the “first ever multi-vendor contract awards to modernize the nation’s organ transplant system to improve transparency, performance, governance, and efficiency of the organ donation and transplantation system for the more than 100,000 people on the organ transplant waitlist.”
For the first time in 40 years, “multiple contractors will provide their expertise and proven experience to improve the national organ transplant system,” which has “long faced critiques” about a number of structural challenges.
HRSA is now announcing “multiple OPTN modernization awards to support critical actions.” These include “improving patient safety,” “supporting OPTN IT modernization,” “increasing transparency and public engagement in OPTN policy development,” “strengthening patient-centered communications,” and “improving OPTN financial management.”
HRSA also announced in August that “the OPTN Board of Directors—the governing board that develops national organ allocation policy—is now separately incorporated and independent from the Board of longtime OPTN contractor, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).”
