MORGANTOWN, W.Va. , Aug. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — West Virginia University Medical System (WVU Medicine), in partnership with InVita Healthcare Technologies (InVita) and Lifeline of Ohio (LOOP), a federally designated organ donation organization (OPO) serving central and southeastern Ohio and Wood and Hancock counties in West Virginia, has successfully launched iReferral® to improve the critical first step of the organ and tissue donation and transplant process.
iReferral is an advanced interoperability technology that offers healthcare facilities nationwide the opportunity to replace time-consuming, inefficient, manual telephone donor notification processes with automated identification of potential organ and tissue donors and secure electronic delivery to iTransplant®, the OPO's electronic donor management system.
Through this collaboration, more lives will be saved and healed thanks to the generosity of donors and their families.
Post this
“Streamlining the organ donation process has the potential to impact the lives of many patients awaiting organ transplants in our region and across the United States,” said Michael Schro, PharmD, vice president of the West Virginia University Medical Transplant Alliance.
As Ohio Lifeline’s third successful hospital iReferral implementation, WVU Medicine rolled out iReferral, an alternative to a phone process, at its Camden-Clark Hospital campus and Burnsville Hospital campus in late February and early March, respectively, to improve compliance with federal regulations.
“We are excited to be working with one of our partner hospitals, West Virginia University Health System, and InVita Healthcare Technologies to be part of this innovative process to streamline the organ and tissue donation referral process,” said Andrew Mullins, CEO of Lifeline of Ohio. “This collaboration will help save and heal more lives thanks to the generosity of donors and their families.”
iReferral integrates WVU Medicine's electronic health record system with Lifeline of Ohio's iTransplant system based on established clinical criteria, ensuring OPOs receive timely referrals of potential organ and tissue donors. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations require hospitals to refer all potential organ and tissue donors to federally designated OPOs. With each donor potentially saving up to eight lives through organ transplantation and more than 75 more through tissue donation, iReferral maximizes families' chances of saving a life through the gift of organ donation for the more than 100,000 patients on transplant waiting lists awaiting a life-saving organ.
“We congratulate West Virginia University Health System and Ohio Lifeline on this important launch and step forward,” said Wade Liu, chief product officer and general manager of organ donation and transplantation at Invita Healthcare Technologies. “Every organ donation opportunity is so important, and we're proud to partner to provide innovative technology solutions to help maximize the gift of life for the many people waiting for a life-saving transplant.”
About WVU Health System | wvumedicine.org
West Virginia University Health System is the largest health system in West Virginia and the state's largest employer, with more than 3,000 licensed beds, 4,000 providers, nearly 30,000 employees and total operating revenues of more than $5 billion. The health system is comprised of 24 hospitals and five research institutes, including JW Ruby Memorial Hospital, a 700-bed academic medical center, and the 150-bed WVU Medicine Children's Hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia. For more information, visit WVUMedicine.org.
About Lifeline of Ohio | lifelineofohio.org
Founded in 1984, Lifeline of Ohio is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes and coordinates the donation of human organs and tissues for transplantation. Serving 97 hospitals and facilities in 38 counties in Ohio and two counties in West Virginia, Lifeline of Ohio is designated as an organ procurement organization through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
About InVita Healthcare Technologies | invitahealth.com
InVita provides mission-critical chain of custody software technology for complex medical, forensic and community care environments. InVita's solutions streamline clinical workflows and optimize supply chain, sample tracking and environmental visibility across donation and transplant, blood and plasma operations, tissue and implant lifecycle, and DNA and forensics. InVita continues to expand its iReferral® and iTransplant® platforms, which support approximately 75% of all U.S. OPOs and are used by more than 15,000 medical professionals at more than 100 organ, tissue, eye and birth tissue organizations worldwide.
SOURCE InVita Healthcare Technologies
