title: A step toward solving the long-term care dilemma for living kidney donors.
abstract: Living kidney donor transplantation, universally recognized as the best current option in care for patients with end-stage renal disease, has shown a static growth in application in the United States despite continued expansion of the prevalent number of patients sustained by dialysis. Whether insurance providers' deficient payment to transplantation facilities for long-term costs generated by living kidney donors contributes to the problem was examined by the facility. Precise focus on all coding and billing for services rendered during care beyond 6 months effectively increased reimbursement from insurance providers for a living kidney donor from 47% to 85% of the amount billed. Although the sample of 82 donors was small and predominantly white (81.7%), it seems reasonable to suggest that centers with a low rate of payment consider an examination of their own billing and coding practices. The extent of donor resistance to participate in a continuing posttransplantation relationship with the transplantation center previously linked to financial issues borne by the donor remains unaddressed and could be explored in a subsequent study.
authors.affiliation: State University of New York, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA. elifriedmn@aol.com
authors.forename: Amy L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Eli A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Friedman
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement / Q000191:economics*; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000191:economics*; D019520:Living Donors; D008297:Male