Donation Connection: Quarter 3, 2023

DONATION Connection

A newsletter for our frontline partners

In This Issue

Honoring Heroes at the Donate Life Legacy Walk

We were thrilled to welcome nearly 2,000 participants to the seventh-annual Donate Life Legacy Walk on June 3. Participants enjoyed the musical stylings of local band Cherry Bomb; tasty treats from area food trucks; lawn games and more. The Tribute Trail provided moments of reflection and recognition for those who have been impacted by organ, eye and tissue donation.

This year, the walk included a new feature in the bubble ceremony — a heartfelt moment to honor those who have floated in and out of our lives in many beautiful ways.

We enjoyed seeing many of you at the walk and hope to see even more of you next year when the Legacy Walk returns to the National WWI Museum and Memorial lawn on Saturday, June 1, 2024.

Celebrating Diversity in Donation

August is National Multicultural Donor Awareness Month, a time to save and enhance lives in diverse communities by creating a positive culture for organ, eye and tissue donation.

The need for donation is strong in communities of color. Nearly 60% of the national transplant waitlist are individuals from multicultural communities — and more than 50% of organ transplant recipients are people of color.

Nationally, the vast majority of those waiting for the most commonly transplanted organ, the kidney, are people of color, representing 64% of the waitlist.

We have seen increases in the number of deceased organ donors spanning many races over the last four years, including a 94% increase in the American Indian/Alaska Native population.

We look forward to celebrating multicultural donation in August and throughout the year.

MTN Ranks Third Nationally for Donation, Transplantation Rates

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a report that outlines individual organ procurement organization (OPO) performance in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available. This report places all OPOs into one of three tiers based on donation and transplantation rates, and it notes that of 56 federally certified U.S. OPOs:

• 15 — including Midwest Transplant Network — are Tier 1 (26%),

• 18 are Tier 2 (32%) and

• 24 are Tier 3 (42%).

MTN ranks No. 3 nationally for both donation and transplantation rates; it has been in the top three OPOs for both rates all three years that this report has been released.

MTN’s assessment rating reflects the quality, professionalism and excellence in partnerships throughout our service area, as well as the incredible generosity of organ, eye and tissue donors and their families. Thank you for your important contributions toward MTN’s mission.

Learn more about the report and MTN ’s ranking: mwtn.org/cms-ranking

Donation Education in the Community

Midwest Transplant Network (MTN) staff members and volunteer Ambassadors have been busy spreading the message of donation in our community. A few of our engagement efforts so far this year include:

Awareness at the Kansas and Missouri state capitols

In tandem with fellow donation-related organizations, our team visited with legislators about the ongoing need for organ, eye and tissue donation in Topeka, Kansas, and honored families whose loved ones gave the gift of life in 2022 in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Student education in four Missouri school districts

Our Community Engagement Coordinator spoke with high schoolers about career opportunities in the donation and transplantation fields as well as the impact donation can have on a variety of healthcare careers.

The Downtown Overland Park St. Patrick’s Day Parade

MTN staff members and volunteers shared the message of donation with parade goers.

Leslie’s Legacy of Love blood drive

We participated in this community blood drive held in honor of Leslie McLendon, who dedicated her career to helping others and who gave the gift of life in her passing.

Heritage Festival

Our staff members and volunteers connected with attendees about donation at this Kansas City, Missouri, event honoring Juneteenth, the oldest-known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S.

ICCFA Convention

MTN staff members attended the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association (ICCFA) Annual Convention & Exposition, held in Kansas City, Missouri, from May 16 - 19. Funeral Home, Medical Examiner & Coroner Liaison Brad Marten; Director, Hospital Services Carol Benson, RN, MSN; and Manager, Tissue Services Jeff Allison, CTBS, represented MTN as we continue to partner with deathcare professionals to honor the donation decisions of our generous donor heroes and their families. Donate Life America sponsored participation as part of the Funeral Home Liaison group’s annual projects to help educate about the importance of organ, eye and tissue donation.

Updated Funeral Home Billing Form

MTN has reevaluated the funeral home reimbursement rates offered to establishments/embalmers that provide reconstructive services. MTN has decided to make some increases to align with industry standards. These new rates will go into effect July 1, 2023.

Access the updated form: mwtn.org/fh-billing

Hospital Partner Education

About this newsletter

This insert is intended for clinical staff and not for the general public. Please post in a highly visible clinical area such as a break room.

Contact Us

For more information or questions, call 913-262-1668, email info@mwtn.org or visit mwtn.org

Family Readiness Assessment Tool (FRAT)

Midwest Transplant Network (MTN) recognizes the challenges hospital staff members face when a family adamantly requests immediate extubation and a donation conversation needs to be facilitated.

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Midwest Transplant Network

MTN wants to proactively support hospital staff members by providing more timely donation conversations with families. Our goal is to jointly assess family readiness for donation conversations with families while:

• Providing on-time donation information and support for family decision making,

• Upholding First Person Authorization and

• Matching families’ timeframes for palliative extubation.

To jointly assess family readiness, MTN may ask additional questions during conversations regarding open referrals.

1. Is the family showing signs that they may accept that this is a nonsurvivable injury?

2. Has the family made comments that would lead you to think they may elect to move to comfort care in the next day or two?

This information can help determine the timing of MTN interaction with the family and what type of interaction is appropriate.

Our goal is to work together to match the donation discussion to the family’s timeline for end-of-life decisions/palliative extubation.

Hospital Caregivers

Midwest Transplant Network

Family

Family Readiness Assessment

Organ Perfusion Pumps: Expanding Donation Possibilities

With MTN Organ Recovery Specialist Ryan Schmidt

The possibility of organ donation and transplantation has often been limited by geographic areas and time restrictions. Heart and lung transplants were previously confined by the distance from the donor hospital to the transplant center where the intended recipient waited. A traditional four-hour maximum from the recovery, packaging, travel and then perfusion of the organ in the recipient precluded lengthy travel.

Today, this is no longer a factor. Kidney pumps have been in use since the 1970s. Normothermic lung pumps emerged around 2012 and have enabled centers from coast to coast to consider donors much farther than previously possible. Within the last three years, heart and liver pumps that have been approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration have expanded the opportunity to recover and transplant these organs where previously not feasible.

By the Numbers

Total Organs Transplanted

Jan. 1 - May 31, 2023

47 hearts

54 lungs

93 livers

13 pancreata

222 kidneys

4 intestines

100 th DCU Transfer

Ryan Schmidt, CPTC, CTP, one of MTN’s two Surgical Organ Recovery Specialists, explained that transplant recovery teams will notify hospital ORs in advance if they are bringing a perfusion pump of any kind. Lung and heart pumps may increase OR times by 30 minutes, and liver pumps may need an additional hour of OR time. Additionally, Schmidt shared that when pump use is planned, recovery teams are likely to bring two additional staff members to oversee perfusion and the technical management of the equipment. He recommends these recoveries occur in the largest-available OR suite.

The organ procurement field continues to see incredible scientific advances that expand transplantation possibilities. Schmidt said the most exciting thing he’s seeing in the OR is that “normothermic pumps have eliminated timeframes that previously limited transplant centers at farther distances from accepting and recovering hearts, lungs and livers.”

In September 2022, MTN was honored to provide specialized care for the first donor hero at our new Donor Care and Surgical Recovery Unit (DCU). With great pride, we would like to announce that we transferred our 100th donor hero to our DCU in May 2023. So much work, planning and collaboration has gone into ensuring we provide the best service to our donors and their families. Many thanks to the incredible donor hospital partners and transplant programs that have made this a possibility for current and future donors, their families and the recipients awaiting a lifesaving organ.

Donation Information Booths

We are seeking interested offices who would like to host a donation booth this summer or fall. If you would like to have an information booth in your office to answer community questions, or if there is an event in your community where you feel that donation information should be shared, please reach out to our Donor Designation Coordinator at egonzales@mwtn.org

National Donate Life Month Spirit Week

Thank you to the offices that participated and submitted their pictures this April. It was so fun to see the entries and learn about your community outreach activities . Several offices submitted multiple entries for the drawing, and the creativity was impressive. Join us in congratulating the winning office, Clark County, Kansas, Treasurer’s Office! Be on the lookout for more information regarding our next contest for National DMV Appreciation Month.

National DMV Appreciation Month

We get the pleasure every year — particularly in September, National DMV Appreciation Month — to celebrate the hard and valuable work you all do to support the organ, eye and tissue donor registry and Donate Life license plates. We cannot do this work without you all. Please make sure we have most up-to-date email and mailing addresses, emailing egonzales@mwtn.org if we should update information for your office. We will host our annual decorating contest again, so get those creative thoughts flowing.

Excellence in Donation Award

Join us in congratulating the Jackson County, Kansas, Treasurer’s Office for earning the Excellence in Donation Award. They continue to show their support by participating in regular decorating and outreach efforts as well as through support and advocacy through their personal donation connections and within their community. We are grateful for all that the team at this office does to share the message of donation.

Highlighting Donation Champions

There are several awards and recognitions that Midwest Transplant Network and the donation and organ procurement communities have for individuals and groups that consistently go above and beyond to advocate for and support organ, eye and tissue donation. We know there are many individuals who do great work in our service area, and we want to be sure to know about your efforts. If you or someone you know continually works hard in support of donation, please share this information with Donor Designation Coordinator Elizabeth Gonzales-Manns: egonzales@mwtn.org . We want to highlight your hard work and ensure these individuals and teams can be considered for various awards and recognitions throughout the year.

Request to Update Office Contacts

We ask that all offices provide updated information for any changes in staff, leadership or location to ensure we send items and emails to the correct contact(s). If you are not receiving our monthly emails from Donor Designation Coordinator Elizabeth Gonzales-Manns, please consider adding the email egonzales@mwtn.org to your contact/ safe senders list to ensure the messages can securely pass any firewalls. Also, your office should have received a mailing for National Donate Life Month in late March. If you did not receive this package, please reach out to egonzales@mwtn.org. We do not want you to miss out on receiving any information or mailings.

Materials Request

If you have a request for materials for your office or an event in your community, please fill out the form on our website. We appreciate your support in sharing the message of organ, eye and tissue donation.

Request materials: mwtn.org/dmv

Online Learning Module

Would you like to have a quick overview of organ, eye and tissue donation? Check out this five-minute learning module. It’s fast, and you will also have a chance to win an Amazon gift card after completing the short knowledge check at the end.

Complete the module now: mwtn.org/dmv

Mission

Saving lives by honoring the gift of donation with dignity and compassion

Vision

Leading organ and tissue donation through excellence, quality and partnerships

Contact Us

For more information or questions, call 913-262-1668 or visit mwtn.org

Follow Us

/MidwestTransplantNetwork

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@MWTransplant

Midwest Transplant Network

Upcoming Events

Event Audience Key

General MTN

Funeral Home & Medical Examiner Partners

Hospital Partners

Licensing, Treasury and Department of Revenue Partners

August

Aug. 1 - 31 • National Multicultural Donor Awareness Month

During the month of August, we aim to bring heightened awareness to donation and transplantation in multicultural communities and create a positive culture for organ, eye and tissue donation.

September

Sept. 1 - 30 • National DMV Appreciation Month

National DMV Appreciation Month recognizes the vital role our licensing, treasury and Department of Revenue partners play in helping save and enhance lives through donation.

View all upcoming events: mwtn.org/events

For more information: mwtn.org/dmv-month