HHS reforms organ procurement: 9 things hospitals should know

HHS has released additional details about an initiative that aims to increase accountability and transparency in the nation’s organ transplant system. HHS announced eight reforms to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network and organ procurement policies in a Sept. 18 news conference. Here’s what to know:

1. For the first time, the Health Resources and Services Administration, an HHS agency, separated from the contractor that ran the OPTN board and launched an independent board of 34 members via a national special election. 2. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. directed all organ procurement organizations to appoint a OPTN patient safety officer that will monitor and investigate patient safety events, document and report incidents and adverse events to OPTN, lead root-cause analy