Health Resources and Services Administration
http://newsroom.hrsa.gov
Wednesday, July 10
HRSA will work to expand support to living donors and reduce the number of donor organs that are discarded. Meanwhile, HRSA-funded health centers will continue promoting value-based care and focus on outcome-oriented public health interventions that slow the progression of disease from diabetes to kidney failure.
"HRSA will work to remove financial barriers to living organ donations, as well as to reduce the number of kidneys procured but not transplanted," said HRSA Administrator George Sigounas, MS, Ph.D. "In 2017, HRSA-funded health centers cared for more than two million adult patients with diabetes. Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney disease in the United States."
HRSA will expand allowable costs that can be reimbursed under the Reimbursement of Travel and Subsistence Expenses toward Living Organ Donation program- raising the income limit under this program, allowing reimbursement for lost wages, and taking steps towards the reimbursement of child care expenses under this program.
HRSA will further support efforts to streamline recovery, delivery and transplant of deceased donor organs. To this end, HRSA has supported a Collaborative Innovation and Improvement Network (COIIN) pilot project through the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) with a limited number of participating kidney transplant programs. The goal is to increase transplantation and reduce the number of discarded kidneys, with a particular focus on increasing utilization of kidneys deemed to be moderate-to higher-risk due to their clinical characteristics.
Initial results suggest that the COIIN pilot has resulted in increased utilization of kidneys among the first cohort of participating transplant programs. HRSA will expand the COIIN pilot project in 2020, allowing more kidney transplant programs to participate.
Recognizing that patients with poorly controlled diabetes are at increased risk for chronic kidney disease, HRSA is also focusing on kidney disease prevention.
HRSA has implemented a Diabetes Quality Improvement Initiative. It is focused on increasing diabetes prevention and treatment efforts in health centers, through increased weight screenings and counseling for adults and children, and improved diabetes treatment and management to decrease the proportion of health center patients with poor control of their diabetes (HbA1c > 9).
For more information on organ donation and transplantation, please visit: https://www.organdonor.gov
For more information on HRSA’s Health Center Program, please visit: https://bphc.hrsa.gov.
Read the HHS press release on President Trump's 'Advancing American Kidney Health' Initiative.
