Under a new government rule aimed at increasing the number of organ donations, hospitals will be required to notify an organ procurement organization (OPO) of all deaths that occur in the hospital.
The Department of Health and Human Services said that the requirement "will ensure that OPOs have the opportunity to determine the suitability of every potential organ donor, thus increasing the opportunities to contact families and request organ donation."
The new rule is part of the National Organ and Tissue Donation Initiative that was launched by Vice President Gore in December. The regulation affects all of the 5,200 short-stay hospitals in the United States and becomes a condition for participation in the Medicare program. "Under the rule, hospitals will refer 2.1 million hospital deaths annually to the nation's 63 OPOs or to a third party designated by the OPOs to handle the referrals. Hospitals also will work with the OPO to ensure that the family of every potential donor knows about its option to donate organs or tissues," HHS said.
HHS has estimated that the new regulation can increase donation by 20% over the next two years. The rule is modeled on the experience of the Philadelphia-area Delaware Valley Transplant Program, which, from 1994 to 1997, experienced a 40% increase in donors and a 49% increase in transplanted organs following Pennsylvania's passage of a routine referral law. During the same period, organ donations increased nationally by less than 6%.
For Your Information:
HHS press release announcing regulations
www.hhs.gov/news/press/1998pres/980617.htmlBackground information on National Organ and Tissue Donation Initiative
www.hhs.gov/news/press/1998pres/980617b.html
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