Columbia University/New York-Presbyterian Hospital: improving access to renal transplantation

There continues to be an increasing disparity between organ supply and demand in kidney transplantation with over 87,000 patients currently on the waiting list. Prolonged waiting times on dialysis is associated with significant morbidity and mortality rates. At Columbia University Medical Center/New York-Presbyterian Hospital we have implemented several strategies to improve access to transplantation. Here we present these key steps that have resulted in a significant reduction in our median waiting times and successfully increased the rate of transplantation at our center.