Organ Retrieval and Collection of Health Information for Donation (ORCHID)

There are well-documented inefficiencies and inequities in the current system
of deceased donor organ transplantation. While much prior research has focused
on designing better allocation systems to distribute donated organs, more can
be done to study organ procurement, the process by which organs are recovered
from deceased donors. Improvements to organ procurement can greatly increase
the supply of a scarce public resource, improving health outcomes for the more
than 100,000 patients currently waiting for an organ transplant. Such changes
will also impact health equity, as a disproportionate number of waitlisted
patients come from marginalized communities. So far, research into organ
procurement has been hamstrung by a lack of transparent data. To address this
pressing issue, we have collected the first ever multi-center dataset on organ
procurement, covering ten years of clinical, financial, and administrative
information from six organ procurement organizations (OPOs). This novel
dataset can be used to identify opportunities to improve current practice,
build tools to help OPOs make better decisions, and recommend policy changes
to increase procurement.