Geographic Accessibility of Deceased Organ Donor Care Units
This cohort study found that despite their reported advantages and consensus endorsement, heterogeneous adoption of DCUs has left a substantial proportion of deceased donors after brain death more than a 180-minute drive from a DCU. Given inefficiencies introduced by donation service area boundaries, opening additional DCUs in acute care hospitals and donor transport across these existing boundaries may be 2 potential approaches to improve system efficiency and donation outcomes.
Authors
- Vicky Tam
- Vishnu S. Potluri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3307-8926)
- Elizabeth M. Sonnenberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7886-017X)
- Peter P. Reese (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1440-069X)
- Joel T. Adler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8190-3444)
- Emily A. Vail
- Douglas J. Wiebe
- Richard D. Hasz
Institutions
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (US)
- Vanderbilt University (US)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Ethics and Public Policy Center (US)
- Gift of Life Michigan (US)
- Vanderbilt Health (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- JAMA Network Open
- Published
- 2026-03-13
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.1703
- Primary Topic
- Organ Donation and Transplantation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Gilead Sciences
- University of Pennsylvania
- Moderna
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases