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.