The Health Resources and Services Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services has selected multiple vendors to modernize the organ transplant system, moving away from the previous single-award contract.
The awardees are Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, General Dynamic Information Technology, Maximus Federal, Deloitte and Guidehouse Digital, the HHS said Thursday.
The transformation of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, or OPTN — the first in 40 years — comes amid criticisms regarding lack of transparency, potential for conflicts of interest, IT reliability issues and other structural challenges.
Work under the contracts includes improving patient safety, increasing transparency and public engagement in OPTN policy development, and strengthening patient-centered communications.
According to the agency, the modernization effort will enhance the system’s efficiency for over 100,000 people on the organ transplant waitlist.
“With the life of more than 100,000 Americans at stake, no organ donated for transplantation should go to waste,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, a past Wash100 Award recipient.
“The Biden-Harris Administration has reformed OPTN to require accountability in the operation of organ procurement that our transplant patients and their families demand,” he added.
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