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 increased 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.