The importance of sound management and organizational culture in donation and transplantation: A single center organ procurement organization experience in the US

Joseph Ferreira¹, Simon Keith¹, John st John¹, Dr. John Ham¹, Karen Hess¹, Kathy Crabtree¹, Barry Grace¹, Carrie Deese¹

¹Nevada Donor Network, Las Vegas, NV, United States

Introduction     

The Nevada Donor Network (NDN) is federally designated by the US Department of Health and Human Services as the Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) which covers approximately 80% of the total population in the State of Nevada. The NDN coverage area is comprised of a population of approximately 2.1 million people according to the 2012 census report. In June of 2011, NDN was declared as a “Member Not in Good Standing” by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network/United Network for Organ Sharing (OPTN/UNOS) based on a regulatory peer review process which revealed underperformance and compliance violations.

Methods

The Board of Directors of NDN took decisive action based on these findings and recruited new leadership to transform the culture of the organization. The culture deployed by the new leadership was based on a blend of sound management principles and entrepreneurial concepts from the private sector of business. 

Results

During the second quarter of 2012, the organization began to experience significant growth in organ donation. In 2011, prior to the cultural changes by new management, the organization recovered organs for transplantation from 53 donors. This equates to 25 donors per million population which ranked NDN 30^th out of the 58 OPOs in the US. In 2012, the number of donors recovered increased to 75 which translates to 36 donors per million population which improved NDN’s ranking to 12^th out of the 58 OPOs. Year to date in 2013, NDN has recovered organs from 56 donors. This equates to 53 donors per million which ranks NDN 1^st out of the 58 OPOs in the US.

Conclusion

The resultant increase in the number of donors per million population at NDN denotes the importance of effective leadership and organizational culture in the donation mission. It also emphasizes the value of regulatory oversight and peer review of the OPTN/UNOS in the US to maximize OPO performance.

¹Submitted on behalf of the entire team at Nevada Donor Network and our community partners in Nevada for their hard work and dedication which led to these results.