Improving 1-year liver allograft survival hazard ratios

Background The Scientific Registry for Transplant Recipients (SRTR) publishes outcomes of all transplant centres in the USA two times a year. The outcomes are publicly available and used by insurance payers and patients to assess the performance of a programme. Poor performance can result in tempora...

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Main Authors: Resham­ Ramkissoon, Ashley Rosier, Savitha Iyengar, Timucin Taner, William Sanchez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2025-01-01
Series:BMJ Open Quality
Online Access:https://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/14/1/e002899.full
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author Resham­ Ramkissoon
Ashley Rosier
Savitha Iyengar
Timucin Taner
William Sanchez
author_facet Resham­ Ramkissoon
Ashley Rosier
Savitha Iyengar
Timucin Taner
William Sanchez
author_sort Resham­ Ramkissoon
collection DOAJ
description Background The Scientific Registry for Transplant Recipients (SRTR) publishes outcomes of all transplant centres in the USA two times a year. The outcomes are publicly available and used by insurance payers and patients to assess the performance of a programme. Poor performance can result in temporary suspension or termination of a transplant programme. The estimated 1-year survival hazard ratio (EHR) is an important metric publicly reported by the SRTR.Problem The EHR at our institution was 1.13, indicating a graft loss rate that was 13% higher than the national average.Methods/INTERVENTION We defined an improvement in this metric as achieving an EHR of <1.0. Our balance measure was maintaining similar liver transplant volumes and avoiding limiting access to transplant. Using a causality tree, we identified there was no ‘real time’ assessment of programme risk or objective metric to assess this. An affinity diagram was used to determine high and intermediate risk factors for mortality and graft loss and, using a REDCap form (a web application used to manage our database) to track actual and potential complications, we calculated a weekly ‘risk metric’ that was introduced at multidisciplinary selection conference meetings.Results We remeasured our EHR at each interval release of the SRTR outcomes and found it to be 0.98 and 0.65 after implementing the ‘risk metric.’ During the intervention period, annual liver transplant volume remained above the baseline measure.Conclusion By implementing a ‘risk metric’ to prospectively assess the risk of a low EHR at transplant selection committee meetings, we were able to reduce the EHR well below the national average without limiting access to liver transplants.
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spelling doaj-art-5f92970f58404ea2a70ba1882e8c56342025-02-03T18:05:13ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open Quality2399-66412025-01-0114110.1136/bmjoq-2024-002899Improving 1-year liver allograft survival hazard ratiosResham­ Ramkissoon0Ashley Rosier1Savitha Iyengar2Timucin Taner3William Sanchez4Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USAMayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USAMayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USAMayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USAMayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USABackground The Scientific Registry for Transplant Recipients (SRTR) publishes outcomes of all transplant centres in the USA two times a year. The outcomes are publicly available and used by insurance payers and patients to assess the performance of a programme. Poor performance can result in temporary suspension or termination of a transplant programme. The estimated 1-year survival hazard ratio (EHR) is an important metric publicly reported by the SRTR.Problem The EHR at our institution was 1.13, indicating a graft loss rate that was 13% higher than the national average.Methods/INTERVENTION We defined an improvement in this metric as achieving an EHR of <1.0. Our balance measure was maintaining similar liver transplant volumes and avoiding limiting access to transplant. Using a causality tree, we identified there was no ‘real time’ assessment of programme risk or objective metric to assess this. An affinity diagram was used to determine high and intermediate risk factors for mortality and graft loss and, using a REDCap form (a web application used to manage our database) to track actual and potential complications, we calculated a weekly ‘risk metric’ that was introduced at multidisciplinary selection conference meetings.Results We remeasured our EHR at each interval release of the SRTR outcomes and found it to be 0.98 and 0.65 after implementing the ‘risk metric.’ During the intervention period, annual liver transplant volume remained above the baseline measure.Conclusion By implementing a ‘risk metric’ to prospectively assess the risk of a low EHR at transplant selection committee meetings, we were able to reduce the EHR well below the national average without limiting access to liver transplants.https://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/14/1/e002899.full
spellingShingle Resham­ Ramkissoon
Ashley Rosier
Savitha Iyengar
Timucin Taner
William Sanchez
Improving 1-year liver allograft survival hazard ratios
BMJ Open Quality
title Improving 1-year liver allograft survival hazard ratios
title_full Improving 1-year liver allograft survival hazard ratios
title_fullStr Improving 1-year liver allograft survival hazard ratios
title_full_unstemmed Improving 1-year liver allograft survival hazard ratios
title_short Improving 1-year liver allograft survival hazard ratios
title_sort improving 1 year liver allograft survival hazard ratios
url https://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/14/1/e002899.full
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AT ashleyrosier improving1yearliverallograftsurvivalhazardratios
AT savithaiyengar improving1yearliverallograftsurvivalhazardratios
AT timucintaner improving1yearliverallograftsurvivalhazardratios
AT williamsanchez improving1yearliverallograftsurvivalhazardratios