The
Challenge
Each
year, thousands of organ and tissue donations are needed to save
lives and maintain quality of life. Donated organs and other
tissues include kidneys, pancreas, hearts, lungs, livers, intestines,
heart valves, veins, tendons, bone and corneas.
In
Michigan and throughout the nation, organ donation rates are
climbing as hospitals work together to identify and share best
practices. Gift of Life Michigan reports that there were 292
organ
donors in 2006, resulting in 802 organs transplanted and saving
a record number of lives in our state. Surpassing 2005, there
were 914 tissue donors that enhanced and saved the lives of countless
people last year. Each donor has the ability to save and enhance
the lives of up to 50 people. Despite this success, 18 people
die
each day waiting with more than 90,000 people across the nation
currently waiting for organ donations to include 3,200 Michigan
residents. The challenges in raising organ donation rates are
often attributed to people not being fully aware of the need
for organs
or the fact that most organ recipients go on to lead very active
lives.
In
2003, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services challenged
the nation’s 300 largest hospitals to join the Organ Donation
Breakthrough Collaborative to raise awareness of the importance
of organ and tissue donation and increase donation rates at the
participating hospitals. Michigan hospitals have participated in
the national collaborative and their leadership teams are now sharing
their experiences as peer leaders in Keystone: Gift of
Life. For
the past three years, Michigan has continued to break organ and
tissue donation and transplantation records. Hospitals across the
state and the Michigan Health and Hospital Association have contributed
significantly to saving more lives in Michigan through awareness
and accountability.
The
Response
The
Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA) Keystone Center
for Patient Safety & Quality is partnering with Gift of Life
Michigan to improve the effectiveness of hospital organ donation
practices by implementing evidence based best practice interventions
from the national collaborative. Goals for Keystone: Gift
of Life include:
- improving referral rate — the actual number of eligible
donors that are referred to evaluate for donation
- improving the number of donation requests made by designated
requesters
- improving
the timeliness of requests
- increasing
the conversion rate — the number of eligible
donors that actually result in donation
- increasing the number of organs/tissues per donor
To
date, Keystone: Gift of Life has succeeded in helping raise the
number of participating Michigan hospitals
to nearly 40
facilities and seeking to broaden engagement.
Gift
of Life Michigan is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation certified
by Medicare and designated by the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid
Services as an organ recovery organization for Michigan. The
Gift of Life Organ, Tissue & Eye Donor Registry is a confidential,
24-hour-a-day, computerized database that documents residents’ wishes
regarding organ, tissue and eye donation. Because Gift of Life
is contacted upon every hospital death, signing the Donor Registry
is the best way to ensure a person’s wishes are carried
out. Show Us Your Heart! Sign up on the Michigan Organ Donor
Registry today online at www.giftoflifemichigan.org or
call 800-482-4881.
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