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Article: Using a Standardized Donor Ratio to assess the performance of Organ procurement organizations. (Methods).
- Article from:
- Health Services Research
- Article date:
- October 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Health Research and Educational Trust. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Organ transplantation is one of the greatest modem medical achievements. Organ transplants give new life to more than twenty thousand Americans annually (United Network for Organ Sharing 1999). However, the organ procurement and distribution system faces great challenges. More than 64,000 patients are on transplant waitlists and median waiting time has risen substantially. About 4,000 waitlisted patients die annually before receiving a transplant (United Network for Organ Sharing 1999) and large regional variations exist in waiting times (Ojo et al. 1999; Institute of Medicine 1999).
The shortage and maldistribution of organs have led to controversial proposals, ...