title: An in-house coordinator program to increase organ donation in public trauma hospitals.
abstract: A 4-year retrospective study was conducted regarding the donor potential, consent rates, and organ recovery at a large 500-bed public trauma hospital. An independent organ procurement organization hired two in-house coordinators, one white and one black, to work exclusively in the hospital. The duties of the in-house coordinators included the following: working with nurses, physicians, and residents to identify donors; closely managing and coordinating the consent process; and assisting organ procurement coordinators in donor management. Following the program's implementation and the use of race-specific requesters, a 64% increase in consent rate resulted along with an overall increase of 94% in the number of organ donors. The consent rate of blacks increase 115%, whereas the number of black organ donors increased 154%. The Hispanic consent rate increased 48% with a corresponding increase of 83% in the number of Hispanic organ donors. In addition, the white consent rate increased from 55% (the 3-year average from 1993 to 1995) to 75% in 1996, resulting in a 36% increase following the implementation of the program. The investment of dedicated race-sensitive personnel in large urban county trauma facilities can result in a significant increase in donor conversion rates.
authors.affiliation: LifeGift Organ Donation, Fort Worth, Tex., USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shafer
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Van Buren
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guerriero
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reyes
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Levert-Cole
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oppermann
mesh_terms: D006779:Hospitals, Public; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007587:Job Description; D015397:Program Evaluation; D044469:Racial Groups; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014193:Trauma Centers; D014481:United States