Introduction: It is broadly understood and supported by previous studies that disruptive inefficiencies exist in the hospital to Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) donor referral process, including failure to notify the OPO and delayed referrals. Without a reliable and timely donor referral, life-saving organs cannot be procured and transplanted. A secure direct and automatic electronic donor referral interface was collaboratively developed and implemented to confront the issue of inefficient donor referrals by 1) eliminating the need for nurses to step away from patient care and place the phone call; and 2) automating the donor referral trigger with the goals of increasing referrals and donations while also reducing critical time spent by the hospital and OPO.
Materials and Methods: The multi-disciplinary team collaborated to create a secure technical interface directly connecting the OPO and Hospital systems, as well as design seamless donor referral triggers within the Hospital EMR. These triggers automatically deliver electronic donor referrals from the Hospital to the OPO upon staff entry of pre-determined clinical data into the EMR, greatly reducing the need for donation knowledge and decision making by the hospital staff. The interface includes an additional manual trigger for staff to utilize in cases such as early family mention of donation and other exceptional situations. Upon receipt of the initial electronic referral, the OPO can quickly retrieve critical details for donation screening without pulling the hospital staff away from their critical duties of care. The above described interface has been successfully implemented in all 4 facilities in the hospital system.
Results and Discussion: The interface has led to a significant increase in referrals and donations. Comparing the data from previous (2018) and following years (2019), during which time the only major process change at the hospital was the implementation of the electronic interface, there was a 49% increase in donor referrals (389 to 579) and a 333% increase in organ donors (3 to 13). Over the same period, over 190 hours of staff time were saved by the hospital and the OPO, regardless of the increase in referrals. There are several case studies of the OPO receiving an automatically triggered donor referral when the nurse was unable to connect on a phone call due to duties in a busy ICU. OPO staff were then able to retrieve the appropriate data directly from the EMR, allowing them to mobilize and ultimately recover organs and tissue which likely would have otherwise timed out.
Conclusion: The results demonstrate increased efficiency in the donation referral process and project goals fulfillment by significant increase in referrals and donations as well as reduced burdens on both the Hospital and OPO through time savings. The initiative has been successful due to both the electronic interface and automating the donor referral trigger, leading to more donation and transplantation.