Strategic Innovations to Reduce Disincentives and Increase Living Kidney Donation

Area of Science:

• Nephrology
• Transplant Surgery
• Public Health

Background:

• Despite high willingness to donate kidneys, actual living donation rates remain low in the U.S.
• The National Kidney Registry (NKR) developed programs to mitigate barriers to living kidney donation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of NKR programs designed to eliminate disincentives for living kidney donors.
• To assess the effectiveness of donor-centered innovations in increasing kidney donation rates.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort analysis of administrative data from 103 transplant centers in the NKR.
• Descriptive statistics to summarize donor characteristics and program participation.
• Interrupted time series analysis to evaluate changes in registration conversion rates post-program implementation.

Main Results:

• The NKR's Donor Connect program increased the registration conversion rate from 8.4% to 18.4%.
• The Remote Donor Program reduced travel burden for donors, and the Donor Shield program provided cost reimbursement to 51% of participants.
• Donors in these programs were more racially diverse and resided further from transplant centers.

Conclusions:

• NKR programs effectively increase living kidney donation rates by addressing donor disincentives.
• These donor-centered innovations streamline the donation process and enhance the donor experience.
• The programs have the potential to expand the donor pool and improve transplant efficiency.