1. OPTN/UNOS Transplant Administrators Committee
Spring 2014

2. TAC OPTN Activities
Submitted responses to CMS federal registrar notices
Provided feedback on KAS educational/communication efforts
Provided feedback to OPTN/UNOS Committees
Contributed to cross-committee work groups
The TAC submitted comments to the OPTN/UNOS Executive Committee to consider as part of the OPTN’s response to CMS about two CMS federal registrar notices that went out for public comment: Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Medicare and Medicaid Participating Providers and Suppliers and Contract Year 2015 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription. The Committee expressed its concerns about both proposals and appreciates the OPTN’s support.
The OPTN’s response for the Medicare Emergency Preparedness Requirements proposal emphasized certain OPTN requirements and resources (Policy 1.4) that address the issue. It was noted that a major emphasis of the OPTN is to ensure that any candidate or recipient receives transplant-related treatment at a facility with medical staff with specific training and expertise related to the specific organ type. In the interest of patient safety, every effort should be made to identify an alternate transplant center that has a program of the same organ type.
The OPTN’s response to the 2015 Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription proposal was that immunosuppressant drugs should remain in the protected class under Medicare Part D. Patients have different reactions to medications and physicians need the flexibility to be able to adjust the patient’s drug regimen accordingly to maximize graft and patient survival. The proposed change would limit access to some immunosuppressant medications and, therefore, creates a serious patient safety issue.
Members of the TAC met with UNOS’ Instructional Innovations department and the Kidney Committee liaison to provide feedback on the up coming Kidney Allocation System education/communication framework. One recommendation was for the Kidney Committee to provide members with language regarding KDPI that can be used in their consent forms. All of the education and communication efforts regarding KAS are greatly appreciated.
The TAC continues to provide feedback to OPTN/UNOS Committees about public comment proposals before they are released for public comment. TAC members also contribute to OPTN/UNOS cross-committee work groups, to provide insight into how changes might affect transplant center operations.

3. 2013 UNOS Staffing Survey Released January 2014 Closes June 30, 2014
Benchmarking data only for programs that complete survey
2013 Updates
Find survey at
Survey access and questions:
UNet℠ Help Desk or
Every year we invite transplant centers to participate in a staffing survey. In return, we provide benchmarking data only to those programs that submit their completed form. The survey was released in January and programs have until June 30 to complete it.
This year we added:
New FTE for the survey collection tool – Transplant Infectious Diseases : The portion of FTE that follows/covers for the transplant program regardless of which department covers expense.
Some additions to the FAQ page
The survey is on the UNet Transplant Administrators site. Contact the UNet Helpdesk at or if you need access.

4. 2014 UNOS RFI
2014 UNOS RFI released in January:
Contact payers for deadlines
2014 updates
RFI access and questions:
UNet℠ Help Desk or
UNOS released its 2014 transplant center RFI [request for information] in January.  It is available for completion until the 2015 RFI is released, but you should contact your center’s payers for any deadlines.
No major updates were made this year, but you can now attach more than one addendum. 
Transplant administrators should work with the person who completes their center’s RFI, since they may need some help with transplant terminology and information requirements.
The RFI is available on the Unet transplant administrators’ website ( Review your center’s data tables at srtr.org before completing the RFI. (Note: Only July 2012 data tables are available at this time and until further notice. If you have questions about the PSR delay, please contact SRTR at
Contact the UNet Help Desk with questions or to get access.

5. Transplant Administrators Listserv
Join our Listserv! nsplantAdministrators/
All transplant administrators are invited to join the Listserv. It’s an excellent way to get immediate feedback and advice from your fellow administrators and learn about educational opportunities. Just use the URL on this slide and follow the instructions.

6. The 2014 Transplant Management Forum was held April in Baltimore, MD. There were 550 participants registered for the meeting, and the Committee accepted 52 abstracts . There were 52 exhibitors, 19 sponsors, and 6 abstract award sponsors supporting the meeting. In comparison to last year, there was an increase in the number of participants, accepted abstracts, and exhibitor and sponsors. This was the largest number of attendees and exhibitors in the history of the TMF. The agenda included nine plenary sessions and four breakout session tracks. Up to 16 nursing contact hours and 17 category 1 CEPTCs were offered to attendees. .
2015 Abstract Deadlines: (find more information on the UNOS website)
Abstracts will be accepted from June 23, 2014 to August 18, 2014 to be considered for full, plenary, concurrent, mini-oral or poster presentation.
Abstracts to be considered for award and poster presentation only will be accepted no later than January 19, 2015.

8. Questions? Amy Peele, RN Committee Chair amy.peele@ucsfmedctr.org
Name UNOS Region # representative
Angel Carroll, MSW UNOS Committee Liaison