Timely Referral of Potential Organ Donors

Considerable advancements in the field of transplantation have been realized since the first successful kidney transplantation was performed in 1954. Since this monumental event, more than 300000 patients have received a transplant in the United States.¹ Despite the advances in transplantation, a disparity remains between the number of patients who could benefit from transplantation and the number of organs available for transplantation.

The greatest potential for increasing the number of organs available for transplantation in the United States lies in improving organ donation rates in the nation’s largest hospitals. According to estimates,² the annual number of brain-dead potential donors in the United States is between 10500 and 13800. Of these potential organ donors, 90% are found in 951 of 4919 hospitals³ (nonfederal, short-term general and special hospitals; see TableT1). Conversion rates (ie, the percentage of eligible donors who actually become donors) in the largest 200...