On Feb. 6, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced via a press release it is taking steps as part of its Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) Modernization Initiative, leveraging new legal authority proposed in the President’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget and signed into law as part of the Securing the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Act in September.
The press release says that “In a groundbreaking transformation, for the first time in four-decades supporting the national organ transplantation system, HRSA is issuing requests for proposals (RFPs) in advance of executing multiple different contract awards. This action will increase competition ensuring patients and their families benefit from best-in-class vendors.”
Further, “HRSA is also taking transformational steps to modernize the critical organ matching technology while increasing transparency and accountability by issuing new data reporting requirements to better address pre-waitlist and organ procurement practices. This important work on “pre-waitlist” practices will help address inequities in the transplant waitlist process by reducing racial and ethnic variation both in patient referrals and in organ procurement. “
HHS has the full press release.
