iReferral® streamlines the referral process by automating the identification of potential organ and tissue donors in the hospital and electronically notifying the Organ Procurement Organization (OPO).
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Sept. 3, 2024 -- The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) partnered with InVita Healthcare Technologies (InVita) and Arkansas Regional Organ Recovery Agency (ARORA), the federally designated OPO serving nearly the entire state of Arkansas, to successfully launch iReferral to improve the critical first step of the life-saving organ and tissue transplantation workflow.
This achievement will save countless hours for those involved in the referral process and ultimately save more lives.
Using advanced technology, iReferral replaces the outdated and time-consuming process of telephonic organ and tissue donor notification to a hospital's federally designated OPO with a modern, real-time, and secure electronic interface. This interoperability directly delivers the donor referral to iTransplant®, the OPO's electronic donor management record provided by InVita, allowing nurses to focus their valuable time on providing care and support for their critically ill patients and families while supporting the life-saving mission of organ and tissue donation and transplantation.
"This effort builds on UAMS' long partnership with ARORA to provide life-saving organ and tissue donations to transplant recipients," said Dr. David Warner, Chairman of CORE (Committed to Organ, Tissue, and Eye Recovery Education) Committee, UAMS. "By collaborating with InVita, we are using technology to ensure we can properly identify all potential donors and make the referral process more efficient. This allows physicians and nurses to spend more time with patients, where they are most needed."
The timely and direct delivery of a potential donor from the hospital's electronic health record system directly to the OPO's iTransplant system via iReferral provides the OPO with appropriate notice to ensure that all families are offered the opportunity to make a decision that will save lives through organ and tissue donation. As hundreds of hospitals across the country partner with their designated OPO to adopt this technology, ARORA continues to be an innovative leader as this is their third hospital system implementation of this key technology.
"We are excited to be collaborating with UAMS in our recent launch of iReferral," said Jeremy Lemmons, Manager of Hospital Development, ARORA. "This has proven to be a great asset in its ability to ease the burden on the healthcare providers while allowing ARORA to maximize its impact on those waiting on a life-saving transplant."
"This achievement will save countless hours for those involved in the referral process and ultimately save more lives through organ and tissue donation," said Amelia Nabholz, Director of Hospital Development, ARORA.
With more than 100,000 individuals awaiting a life-saving organ, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations mandate hospitals refer all potential organ and tissue donors to their federally designated OPO. Each donor has the ability to save up to eight (8) lives through organ transplantation and enhance over seventy-five (75) more through tissue donation. iReferral directly improves regulatory compliance to these federal mandates that are in place to provide hope to those waiting for a life-saving organ and/or tissue transplant.
"It is our long-standing goal at InVita to provide innovative technology solutions for our partners that improve process inefficiencies and regulatory compliance," said Wade Liu, InVita Healthcare Technology's Chief Product Officer and General Manager of its Donation and Transplant Division. "We're honored to support the mission of ensuring all donors and families have the opportunity to donate life to the many waiting and in need."
ARORA| arora.org
ARORA is a non-profit, independent organ procurement agency that was established in 1987. It is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas with a regional office in Fayetteville, Arkansas. ARORA's mission is to restore lives by recovering organs and tissues for transplant. For those listed on the organ transplant waiting list, ARORA is a bridge to new life. For those in need of tissue transplants, ARORA is an agent of restored sight, mobility, ability, and freedom from pain.
About InVita Healthcare Technologies | invitahealth.com
InVita provides mission-critical and chain-of-custody software technologies for complex medical, forensic, and community care environments. InVita's solutions streamline clinical workflows, optimize supply chains, sample tracking, and visibility across donation and transplantation, blood and plasma operations, the tissue and implant lifecycle, and environments spanning DNA and forensics. InVita continues to expand the iReferral® and iTransplant® platforms supporting nearly 75% of all OPOs in the United States and used by more than 15,000 medical professionals across more than 100 organ, tissue, eye, and birth tissue organizations around the world.
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