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Web site to help speed organ donations
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9-20-99 Richmond, Va. Matching organ donors with transplant patients will soon be easier and quicker thanks to a new Web site. The secure Web site, accessible to surgeons and procurement officers only, is set for operation next month. The new site is part of an effort by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) to modernize the nation's outdated organ-procurement system, which last year left 64,000 people on waiting lists for kidneys, livers, hearts, and other organs. The goal is to speed up matches so patients can be moved off waiting lists faster, according to UNOS President William Payne, MD. "We're hoping the Web will make for fast, accurate transmission of data so we can avoid this business of faxing and phoning back and forth to get a match," Payne said. The private, nonprofit network also unveiled another, potentially controversial part of its modernization effort Sept. 9-a Web site that lets patients compare the quality of services at transplant centers across the country. Visitors to the site, www.unos.org/patients, can point and click their way to statistics comparing a center's actual survival rates with expected outcomes, as well as waiting time and the availability of organs in the area. Barry Levin, MD, head of the transplant department at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, one of the nation's busiest transplant centers, welcomed the new Web site. "I think it's helpful to let the patient make an informed decision," Levin said. "If they think our data looks good and they really want to be here, that makes the healing process much easier." Payne hopes the Web site comparison data will help transplant centers improve their care. "We're not looking to close transplant centers," he said. "We're looking for quality."
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