*Median of 1.7 years of waiting time awarded to Black kidney candidates with a completed waiting time modification
New monitoring data shows kidney policies aimed at reducing health disparities are working as intended
Six months after new kidney policies took effect, more than 6,100 Black kidney candidates have had their waiting times modified, helping them get the organs they need. A new monitoring report shows the median (statistical midpoint) of additional waiting time given to these candidates was 1.7 years. The attached figure below shows the distribution of waiting time awarded to candidates with a waiting time modification.
Please note, these numbers are as of July 5, 2023. Many more attestations and waiting time modifications have been completed to date and all kidney programs are required to submit an attestation to the OPTN by Jan. 3, 2024, confirming their program has:
- Assessed their waiting list, submitted modifications and supporting documentation, and notified candidates
Distribution of waiting awarded
Number of Waitlist registrations
Waiting time awarded (years)
Additionally, 506 candidates with a waiting time modification received a kidney transplant between Jan. 5, 2023 and July 5, 2023. These policies aimed to improve transplant equity by backdating the waiting time for Black kidney transplant candidates who were disadvantaged by previous use by transplant programs of race-inclusive eGFR calculations. The estimated glomerular filtration rate, or eGFR for short, measures how slowly or quickly kidneys remove a waste product called creatinine from the blood. This calculation helps doctors understand how sick a kidney patient is before listing them for transplant. Also included in the report, is one-year of post implementation data for the requirement of programs to use race-neutral eGFR calculations that aimed to address inequities for these candidates by more accurately estimating their GFR values.
The full report
Read the key takeaways from the combined report or access the full report on the OPTN website. This report was presented to the OPTN Kidney Transplantation and Minority Affairs Committees on Nov. 20, 2023.
Find additional information, FAQs and education on this policy in the toolkit on the OPTN website.
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