Primary health-care physicians: vital roles in organ and tissue donation

The involvement of primary-care physicians is integral to the success of organ and tissue donation and transplantation. Primary-care physicians have a vital role to play in educating patients and encouraging family discussion about organ and tissue donation. A study to determine the practice of Connecticut primary-care physicians relative to providing donation information to patients during routine care was conducted in three phases: 1) validation of current practice of primary-care physicians regarding educating patients about donation, 2) development and distribution of educational materials requested by primary-care physicians, 3) evaluation of primary-care physician practice and educational materials. Most (69% N = 310) responding primary-care physicians never discuss organ/tissue donation with patients during routine care and only 5% (N = 24) had donation information available. When provided with donation materials, most primary-care physicians left these materials in the waiting room and did not personally discuss donation with the patient. Collaboration between primary-care physicians and organ procurement staff needs to be increased so that primary-care physician's more readily discuss donation with their patients and encourage patients to discuss donation decisions with family members.