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Each year more than 90,000 people die while waiting on the kidney transplant list. In recognition of this – and several changes at UNOS – the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid have implemented a new mandatory Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) model for selected centers. All kidney transplant centers in the state of Michigan are participating in this model, which went into effect on July 1st of this year. Financial incentives are linked to 3 major domains: achievement, efficiency, and quality – with each domain assessing the overall number of kidney transplants, the acceptance rate ratio, and the post-transplant graft organ survival respectively. Based on the performance across these domains, centers will be eligible for incentive payments or may be subject to penalties. Data sharing and transparency in publishing those data will be mandatory. As we continue to advocate for our Kidney Companions, let’s hope this new model actually reaches our rural patients and helps us overcome the disparities we continue to see on a near-daily basis.
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