A transplant program must be located in a transplant hospital that is a member of and abides by the rules and requirements of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) established and operated in accordance with section 372 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C. 274). The term “rules and requirements of the OPTN” means those rules and requirements approved by the Secretary pursuant to § 121.4 of this title. No hospital that provides transplantation services shall be deemed to be out of compliance with section 1138(a)(1)(B) of the Act or this section unless the Secretary has given the OPTN formal notice that he or she approves the decision to exclude the transplant hospital from the OPTN and also has notified the transplant hospital in writing.

[51 FR 22042, June 17, 1986, as amended at 84 FR 51822, Sept. 30, 2019]

(a) A transplant program must notify CMS immediately of any significant changes related to the hospital's transplant program or changes that could affect its compliance with the conditions of participation. Instances in which CMS should receive information for follow up, as appropriate, include, but are not limited to:

(1) Change in key staff members of the transplant team, such as a change in the individual the transplant program designated to the OPTN as the program's “primary transplant surgeon” or “primary transplant physician;'

(2) Termination of an agreement between the hospital in which the transplant program is located and an OPO for the recovery and receipt of organs as required by section 482.100; and

(3) Inactivation of the transplant program.

(b) Upon receiving notification of significant changes, CMS will follow up with the transplant program as appropriate, including (but not limited to):

(1) Requesting additional information;

(2) Analyzing the information; or

(3) Conducting an on-site review.

[72 FR 15273, Mar. 30, 2007, as amended at 79 FR 27155, May 12, 2014; 84 FR 51822, Sept. 30, 2019]

A transplant center that seeks Medicare approval to provide transplantation services to pediatric patients must submit to CMS a request specifically for Medicare approval to perform pediatric transplants using the procedures described at § 488.61 of this chapter.

(a) Except as specified in paragraph (d) of this section, a center requesting Medicare approval to perform pediatric transplants must meet all the conditions of participation at §§ 482.72 through 482.74 and §§ 482.80 through 482.104 with respect to its pediatric patients.

(b) A center that performs 50 percent or more of its transplants in a 12-month period on adult patients must be approved to perform adult transplants in order to be approved to perform pediatric transplants.

(1) Loss of Medicare approval to perform adult transplants, whether voluntary or involuntary, will result in loss of the center's approval to perform pediatric transplants.

(2) Loss of Medicare approval to perform pediatric transplants, whether voluntary or involuntary, may trigger a review of the center's Medicare approval to perform adult transplants.

(c) A center that performs 50 percent or more of its transplants in a 12-month period on pediatric patients must be approved to perform pediatric transplants in order to be approved to perform adult transplants.

(1) Loss of Medicare approval to perform pediatric transplants, whether voluntary or involuntary, will result in loss of the center's approval to perform adult transplants.

(2) Loss of Medicare approval to perform adult transplants, whether voluntary or involuntary, may trigger a review of the center's Medicare approval to perform pediatric transplants.

(3) A center that performs 50 percent or more of its transplants on pediatric patients in a 12-month period is not required to meet the clinical experience requirements prior to its request for approval as a pediatric transplant center.

(d) Instead of meeting all conditions of participation at §§ 482.72 through 482.74 and §§ 482.80 through 482.104, a heart transplant center that wishes to provide transplantation services to pediatric heart patients may be approved to perform pediatric heart transplants by meeting the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 criteria in section 4009(b) (Pub. L. 100-203), as follows:

(1) The center's pediatric transplant program must be operated jointly by the hospital and another facility that is Medicare-approved;

(2) The unified program shares the same transplant surgeons and quality improvement program (including oversight committee, patient protocol, and patient selection criteria); and

(3) The center demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary that it is able to provide the specialized facilities, services, and personnel that are required by pediatric heart transplant patients.

A transplant program must be included in the emergency preparedness planning and the emergency preparedness program as set forth in § 482.15 for the hospital in which it is located. However, a transplant program is not individually responsible for the emergency preparedness requirements set forth in § 482.15.

(a) Standard: Policies and procedures. A transplant program must have policies and procedures that address emergency preparedness. These policies and procedures must be included in the hospital's emergency preparedness program.

(b) Standard: Protocols with hospital and OPO. A transplant program must develop and maintain mutually agreed upon protocols that address the duties and responsibilities of the transplant program, the hospital in which the transplant program is operated, and the OPO designated by the Secretary, unless the hospital has an approved waiver to work with another OPO, during an emergency.

[81 FR 64030, Sept. 16, 2016, as amended at 84 FR 51822, Sept. 30, 2019]

Psychiatric hospital must—

(a) Be primarily engaged in providing, by or under the supervision of a doctor of medicine or osteopathy, psychiatric services for the diagnosis and treatment of mentally ill persons;

(b) Meet the conditions of participation specified in §§ 482.1 through 482.23 and §§ 482.25 through 482.57;

(c) Maintain clinical records on all patients, including records sufficient to permit CMS to determine the degree and intensity of treatment furnished to Medicare beneficiaries, as specified in § 482.61; and

(d) Meet the staffing requirements specified in § 482.62.

[72 FR 60788, Oct. 26, 2007]

The medical records maintained by a psychiatric hospital must permit determination of the degree and intensity of the treatment provided to individuals who are furnished services in the institution.

(a) Standard: Development of assessment/diagnostic data. Medical records must stress the psychiatric components of the record, including history of findings and treatment provided for the psychiatric condition for which the patient is hospitalized.

(1) The identification data must include the patient's legal status.

(2) A provisional or admitting diagnosis must be made on every patient at the time of admission, and must include the diagnoses of intercurrent diseases as well as the psychiatric diagnoses.

(3) The reasons for admission must be clearly documented as stated by the patient and/or others significantly involved.

(4) The social service records, including reports of interviews with patients, family members, and others, must provide an assessment of home plans and family attitudes, and community resource contacts as well as a social history.

(5) When indicated, a complete neurological examination must be recorded at the time of the admission physical examination.

(b) Standard: Psychiatric evaluation. Each patient must receive a psychiatric evaluation that must—

(1) Be completed within 60 hours of admission;

(2) Include a medical history;

(3) Contain a record of mental status;

(4) Note the onset of illness and the circumstances leading to admission;

(5) Describe attitudes and behavior;

(6) Estimate intellectual functioning, memory functioning, and orientation; and

(7) Include an inventory of the patient's assets in descriptive, not interpretative, fashion.

(c) Standard: Treatment plan. (1) Each patient must have an individual comprehensive treatment plan that must be based on an inventory of the patient's strengths and disabilities. The written plan must include—

(i) A substantiated diagnosis;

(ii) Short-term and long-range goals;

(iii) The specific treatment modalities utilized;

(iv) The responsibilities of each member of the treatment team; and

(v) Adequate documentation to justify the diagnosis and the treatment and rehabilitation activities carried out.

(2) The treatment received by the patient must be documented in such a way to assure that all active therapeutic efforts are included.

(d) Standard: Recording progress. Progress notes for the patient must be documented, in accordance with applicable State scope-of-practice laws and hospital policies, by the following qualified practitioners: Doctor(s) of medicine or osteopathy, or other licensed practitioner(s), who is responsible for the care of the patient; nurse(s) and social worker(s) (or social service staff) involved in the care of the patient; and, when appropriate, others significantly involved in the patient's active treatment modalities. The frequency of progress notes is determined by the condition of the patient but must be recorded at least weekly for the first 2 months and at least once a month thereafter and must contain recommendations for revisions in the treatment plan as indicated, as well as precise assessment of the patient's progress in accordance with the original or revised treatment plan.

(e) Standard: Discharge planning and discharge summary. The record of each patient who has been discharged must have a discharge summary that includes a recapitulation of the patient's hospitalization and recommendations from appropriate services concerning follow-up or aftercare as well as a brief summary of the patient's condition on discharge.

(f) Standard: Electronic notifications. If the hospital utilizes an electronic medical records system or other electronic administrative system, which is conformant with the content exchange standard at 45 CFR 170.205(d)(2), then the hospital must demonstrate that—

(1) The system's notification capacity is fully operational and the hospital uses it in accordance with all State and Federal statutes and regulations applicable to the hospital's exchange of patient health information.

(2) The system sends notifications that must include at least patient name, treating practitioner name, and sending institution name.

(3) To the extent permissible under applicable federal and state law and regulations, and not inconsistent with the patient's expressed privacy preferences, the system sends notifications directly, or through an intermediary that facilitates exchange of health information, at the time of:

(i) The patient's registration in the hospital's emergency department (if applicable).

(ii) The patient's admission to the hospital's inpatient services (if applicable).

(4) To the extent permissible under applicable federal and state law and regulations, and not inconsistent with the patient's expressed privacy preferences, the system sends notifications directly, or through an intermediary that facilitates exchange of health information, either immediately prior to, or at the time of:

(i) The patient's discharge or transfer from the hospital's emergency department (if applicable).

(ii) The patient's discharge or transfer from the hospital's inpatient services (if applicable).

(5) The hospital has made a reasonable effort to ensure that the system sends the notifications to all applicable post-acute care services providers and suppliers, as well as to any of the following practitioners and entities, which need to receive notification of the patient's status for treatment, care coordination, or quality improvement purposes:

(i) The patient's established primary care practitioner;

(ii) The patient's established primary care practice group or entity; or

(iii) Other practitioner, or other practice group or entity, identified by the patient as the practitioner, or practice group or entity, primarily responsible for his or her care.

[72 FR 60788, Oct. 26, 2007, as amended at 84 FR 51821, Sept. 30, 2019; 85 FR 19292, Apr. 6, 2020; 85 FR 25637, May 1, 2020]

The hospital must have adequate numbers of qualified professional and supportive staff to evaluate patients, formulate written, individualized comprehensive treatment plans, provide active treatment measures, and engage in discharge planning.

(a) Standard: Personnel. The hospital must employ or undertake to provide adequate numbers of qualified professional, technical, and consultative personnel to:

(1) Evaluate patients;

(2) Formulate written individualized, comprehensive treatment plans;

(3) Provide active treatment measures; and

(4) Engage in discharge planning.

(b) Standard: Director of inpatient psychiatric services; medical staff. Inpatient psychiatric services must be under the supervision of a clinical director, service chief, or equivalent who is qualified to provide the leadership required for an intensive treatment program. The number and qualifications of doctors of medicine and osteopathy must be adequate to provide essential psychiatric services.

(1) The clinical director, service chief, or equivalent must meet the training and experience requirements for examination by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology or the American Osteopathic Board of Neurology and Psychiatry.

(2) The director must monitor and evaluate the quality and appropriateness of services and treatment provided by the medical staff.

(c) Standard: Availability of medical personnel. Doctors of medicine or osteopathy and other appropriate professional personnel must be available to provide necessary medical and surgical diagnostic and treatment services. If medical and surgical diagnostic and treatment services are not available within the institution, the institution must have an agreement with an outside source of these services to ensure that they are immediately available or a satisfactory agreement must be established for transferring patients to a general hospital that participates in the Medicare program.

(d) Standard: Nursing services. The hospital must have a qualified director of psychiatric nursing services. In addition to the director of nursing, there must be adequate numbers of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and mental health workers to provide nursing care necessary under each patient's active treatment program and to maintain progress notes on each patient.

(1) The director of psychiatric nursing services must be a registered nurse who has a master's degree in psychiatric or mental health nursing, or its equivalent from a school of nursing accredited by the National League for Nursing, or be qualified by education and experience in the care of the mentally ill. The director must demonstrate competence to participate in interdisciplinary formulation of individual treatment plans; to give skilled nursing care and therapy; and to direct, monitor, and evaluate the nursing care furnished.

(2) The staffing pattern must insure the availability of a registered professional nurse 24 hours each day. There must be adequate numbers of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and mental health workers to provide the nursing care necessary under each patient's active treatment program.

(e) Standard: Psychological services. The hospital must provide or have available psychological services to meet the needs of the patients.

(f) Standard: Social services. There must be a director of social services who monitors and evaluates the quality and appropriateness of social services furnished. The services must be furnished in accordance with accepted standards of practice and established policies and procedures.

(1) The director of the social work department or service must have a master's degree from an accredited school of social work or must be qualified by education and experience in the social services needs of the mentally ill. If the director does not hold a masters degree in social work, at least one staff member must have this qualification.

(2) Social service staff responsibilities must include, but are not limited to, participating in discharge planning, arranging for follow-up care, and developing mechanisms for exchange of appropriate, information with sources outside the hospital.

(g) Standard: Therapeutic activities. The hospital must provide a therapeutic activities program.

(1) The program must be appropriate to the needs and interests of patients and be directed toward restoring and maintaining optimal levels of physical and psychosocial functioning.

(2) The number of qualified therapists, support personnel, and consultants must be adequate to provide comprehensive therapeutic activities consistent with each patient's active treatment program.

[72 FR 60788, Oct. 26, 2007]

A transplant program located within a hospital that has a Medicare provider agreement must meet the conditions of participation specified in §§ 482.72 through 482.104 in order to be granted approval from CMS to provide transplant services.

(a) Unless specified otherwise, the conditions of participation at §§ 482.72 through 482.104 apply to heart, heart-lung, intestine, kidney, liver, lung, and pancreas centers.

(b) In addition to meeting the conditions of participation specified in §§ 482.72 through 482.104, a transplant program must also meet the conditions of participation in §§ 482.1 through 482.57, except for § 482.15.

[81 FR 64030, Sept. 16, 2016, as amended at 84 FR 51821, Sept. 30, 2019]

As used in this subpart, the following definitions apply:

Adverse event means an untoward, undesirable, and usually unanticipated event that causes death or serious injury, or the risk thereof. As applied to transplant programs, examples of adverse events include (but are not limited to) serious medical complications or death caused by living donation; unintentional transplantation of organs of mismatched blood types; transplantation of organs to unintended beneficiaries; and unintended transmission of infectious disease to a beneficiary.

End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) means that stage of renal impairment that appears irreversible and permanent, and requires a regular course of dialysis or kidney transplantation to maintain life.

ESRD Network means all Medicare-approved ESRD facilities in a designated geographic area specified by CMS.

Heart-Lung transplant program means a transplant program that is located in a hospital with an existing Medicare-approved heart transplant program and an existing Medicare-approved lung program that performs combined heart-lung transplants.

Intestine transplant program means a Medicare-approved liver transplant program that performs intestine transplants, combined liver-intestine transplants, or multivisceral transplants.

Network organization means the administrative governing body to the network and liaison to the Federal government.

Pancreas transplant program means a Medicare-approved kidney transplant program that performs pancreas transplants alone or subsequent to a kidney transplant as well as kidney-pancreas transplants.

Transplant hospital means a hospital that furnishes organ transplants and other medical and surgical specialty services required for the care of transplant patients.

Transplant program means an organ-specific transplant program within a transplant hospital (as defined in this section).

[51 FR 22042, June 17, 1986, as amended at 84 FR 51821, Sept. 30, 2019]

Except as specified in paragraph (d) of this section, and § 488.61 of this chapter, transplant programs must meet all data submission, clinical experience, and outcome requirements to be granted initial approval by CMS.

(a) Standard: Data submission. No later than 90 days after the due date established by the OPTN, a transplant program must submit to the OPTN at least 95 percent of required data on all transplants (deceased and living donor) it has performed. Required data submissions include, but are not limited to, submission of the appropriate OPTN forms for transplant candidate registration, transplant recipient registration and follow-up, and living donor registration and follow-up.

(b) Standard: Clinical experience. To be considered for initial approval, an organ-specific transplant program must generally perform 10 transplants over a 12-month period.

(c) Standard: Outcome requirements. CMS will review outcomes for all transplants performed at a program, including outcomes for living donor transplants, if applicable. CMS will review adult and pediatric outcomes separately when a program requests Medicare approval to perform both adult and pediatric transplants.

(1) CMS will compare each transplant program's observed number of patient deaths and graft failures 1-year post-transplant to the center's expected number of patient deaths and graft failures 1-year post-transplant using the data contained in the most recent Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) program-specific report.

(2) CMS will not consider a program's patient and graft survival rates to be acceptable if:

(i) A program's observed patient survival rate or observed graft survival rate is lower than its expected patient survival rate or expected graft survival rate; and

(ii) All three of the following thresholds are crossed over:

(A) The one-sided p-value is less than 0.05,

(B) The number of observed events (patient deaths or graft failures) minus the number of expected events is greater than 3, and

(C) The number of observed events divided by the number of expected events is greater than 1.85.

(d) Exceptions. (1) A heart-lung transplant program is not required to comply with the clinical experience requirements in paragraph (b) of this section or the outcome requirements in paragraph (c) of this section for heart-lung transplants performed at the program.

(2) An intestine transplant program is not required to comply with the outcome performance requirements in paragraph (c) of this section for intestine, combined liver-intestine or multivisceral transplants performed at the program.

(3) A pancreas transplant program is not required to comply with the clinical experience requirements in paragraph (b) of this section or the outcome requirements in paragraph (c) of this section for pancreas transplants performed at the program.

(4) A program that is requesting initial Medicare approval to perform pediatric transplants is not required to comply with the clinical experience requirements in paragraph (b) of this section prior to its request for approval as a pediatric transplant program.

(5) A kidney transplant program that is not Medicare-approved on the effective date of this rule is required to perform at least 3 transplants over a 12-month period prior to its request for initial approval.

[72 FR 15273, Mar. 30, 2007, as amended at 79 FR 27155, May 12, 2014; 81 FR 79880, Nov. 14, 2016; 84 FR 51822, Sept. 30, 2019]

The transplant program must use written patient selection criteria in determining a patient's suitability for placement on the waiting list or a patient's suitability for transplantation. If a program performs living donor transplants, the program also must use written donor selection criteria in determining the suitability of candidates for donation.

(a) Standard: Patient selection. Patient selection criteria must ensure fair and non-discriminatory distribution of organs.

(1) Prior to placement on the program's waiting list, a prospective transplant candidate must receive a psychosocial evaluation, if possible.

(2) Before a transplant program places a transplant candidate on its waiting list, the candidate's medical record must contain documentation that the candidate's blood type has been determined.

(3) When a patient is placed on a program's waiting list or is selected to receive a transplant, the center must document in the patient's medical record the patient selection criteria used.

(4) A transplant program must provide a copy of its patient selection criteria to a transplant patient, or a dialysis facility, as requested by a patient or a dialysis facility.

(b) Standard: Living donor selection. The living donor selection criteria must be consistent with the general principles of medical ethics. Transplant programs must:

(1) Ensure that a prospective living donor receives a medical and psychosocial evaluation prior to donation,

(2) Document in the living donor's medical records the living donor's suitability for donation, and

(3) Document that the living donor has given informed consent, as required under § 482.102.

[72 FR 15273, Mar. 30, 2007, as amended at 84 FR 51822, Sept. 30, 2019]

Transplant programs must have written protocols for validation of donor-recipient blood type and other vital data for the deceased organ recovery, organ receipt, and living donor organ transplantation processes. The transplanting surgeon at the transplant program is responsible for ensuring the medical suitability of donor organs for transplantation into the intended recipient.

(a) Standard: Organ receipt. After an organ arrives at a transplant program, prior to transplantation, the transplanting surgeon and another licensed health care professional must verify that the donor's blood type and other vital data are compatible with transplantation of the intended recipient.

(b) Standard: Living donor transplantation. If a program performs living donor transplants, the transplanting surgeon and another licensed health care professional at the program must verify that the living donor's blood type and other vital data are compatible with transplantation of the intended recipient immediately before the removal of the donor organ(s) and, if applicable, prior to the removal of the recipient's organ(s).

[51 FR 22042, June 17, 1986, as amended at 77 FR 29076, May 16, 2012; 84 FR 51822, Sept. 30, 2019]

Transplant programs must have written patient management policies for the transplant and discharge phases of transplantation. If a transplant program performs living donor transplants, the program also must have written donor management policies for the donor evaluation, donation, and discharge phases of living organ donation.

(a) Standard: Patient and living donor care. The transplant program's patient and donor management policies must ensure that:

(1) Each transplant patient is under the care of a multidisciplinary patient care team coordinated by a physician throughout the transplant and discharge phases of transplantation; and

(2) If a program performs living donor transplants, each living donor is under the care of a multidisciplinary patient care team coordinated by a physician throughout the donor evaluation, donation, and discharge phases of donation.

(b) Standard: Waiting list management. Transplant programs must keep their waiting lists up to date on an ongoing basis, including:

(1) Updating of waiting list patients' clinical information;

(2) Removing patients from the program's waiting list if a patient receives a transplant or dies, or if there is any other reason the patient should no longer be on a program's waiting list; and

(3) Notifying the OPTN no later than 24 hours after a patient's removal from the program's waiting list.

(c) Standard: Patient records. Transplant programs must maintain up-to-date and accurate patient management records for each patient who receives an evaluation for placement on a program's waiting list and who is admitted for organ transplantation.

(1) For each patient who receives an evaluation for placement on a program's waiting list, the program must document in the patient's record that the patient (and in the case of a kidney patient, the patient's usual dialysis facility) has been informed of his or her transplant status, including notification of:

(i) The patient's placement on the program's waiting list;

(ii) The program's decision not to place the patient on its waiting list; or

(iii) The program's inability to make a determination regarding the patient's placement on its waiting list because further clinical testing or documentation is needed.

(2) If a patient on the waiting list is removed from the waiting list for any reason other than death or transplantation, the transplant program must document in the patient's record that the patient (and in the case of a kidney patient, the patient's usual dialysis facility) was notified no later than 10 days after the date the patient was removed from the waiting list.

(3) In the case of patients admitted for organ transplants, transplant programs must maintain written records of:

(i) Multidisciplinary patient care planning during the transplant period; and

(ii) Multidisciplinary discharge planning for post-transplant care.

(d) Standard: Social services. The transplant program must make social services available, furnished by qualified social workers, to transplant patients, living donors, and their families. A qualified social worker is an individual who meets licensing requirements in the State in which he or she practices; and

(1) Completed a course of study with specialization in clinical practice and holds a master's degree from a graduate school of social work accredited by the Council on Social Work Education; or

(2) Is working as a social worker in a transplant program as of the effective date of this final rule and has served for at least 2 years as a social worker, 1 year of which was in a transplantation program, and has established a consultative relationship with a social worker who is qualified under (d)(1) of this paragraph.

(e) Standard: Nutritional services. Transplant programs must make nutritional assessments and diet counseling services, furnished by a qualified dietitian, available to all transplant patients and living donors. A qualified dietitian is an individual who meets practice requirements in the State in which he or she practices and is a registered dietitian with the Commission on Dietetic Registration.

[72 FR 15273, Mar. 30, 2007, as amended at 84 FR 51822, Sept. 30, 2019]

Transplant programs must develop, implement, and maintain a written, comprehensive, data-driven QAPI program designed to monitor and evaluate performance of all transplantation services, including services provided under contract or arrangement.

(a) Standard: Components of a QAPI program. The transplant program's QAPI program must use objective measures to evaluate the center's performance with regard to transplantation activities and outcomes. Outcome measures may include, but are not limited to, patient and donor selection criteria, accuracy of the waiting list in accordance with the OPTN waiting list requirements, accuracy of donor and recipient matching, patient and donor management, techniques for organ recovery, consent practices, patient education, patient satisfaction, and patient rights. The transplant program must take actions that result in performance improvements and track performance to ensure that improvements are sustained.

(b) Standard: Adverse events. A transplant program must establish and implement written policies to address and document adverse events that occur during any phase of an organ transplantation case.

(1) The policies must address, at a minimum, the process for the identification, reporting, analysis, and prevention of adverse events.

(2) The transplant program must conduct a thorough analysis of and document any adverse event and must utilize the analysis to effect changes in the transplant program's policies and practices to prevent repeat incidents.

[72 FR 15273, Mar. 30, 2007, as amended at 84 FR 51822, Sept. 30, 2019]

The transplant program must ensure that all individuals who provide services and/or supervise services at the program, including individuals furnishing services under contract or arrangement, are qualified to provide or supervise such services.

(a) Standard: Director of a transplant program. The transplant program must be under the general supervision of a qualified transplant surgeon or a qualified physician-director. The director of a transplant program need not serve full-time and may also serve as a program's primary transplant surgeon or transplant physician in accordance with § 482.98(b). The director is responsible for planning, organizing, conducting, and directing the transplant program and must devote sufficient time to carry out these responsibilities, which include but are not limited to the following:

(1) Coordinating with the hospital in which the transplant program is located to ensure adequate training of nursing staff and clinical transplant coordinators in the care of transplant patients and living donors.

(2) Ensuring that tissue typing and organ procurement services are available.

(3) Ensuring that transplantation surgery is performed by, or under the direct supervision of, a qualified transplant surgeon in accordance with § 482.98(b).

(b) Standard: Transplant surgeon and physician. The transplant program must identify to the OPTN a primary transplant surgeon and a transplant physician with the appropriate training and experience to provide transplantation services, who are immediately available to provide transplantation services when an organ is offered for transplantation.

(1) The transplant surgeon is responsible for providing surgical services related to transplantation.

(2) The transplant physician is responsible for providing and coordinating transplantation care.

(c) Standard: Clinical transplant coordinator. The transplant program must have a clinical transplant coordinator to ensure the continuity of care of patients and living donors during the pre-transplant, transplant, and discharge phases of transplantation and the donor evaluation, donation, and discharge phases of donation. The clinical transplant coordinator must be a registered nurse or clinician licensed by the State in which the clinical transplant coordinator practices, who has experience and knowledge of transplantation and living donation issues. The clinical transplant coordinator's responsibilities must include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Ensuring the coordination of the clinical aspects of transplant patient and living donor care; and

(2) Acting as a liaison between a kidney transplant program and dialysis facilities, as applicable.

(d) Standard: Independent living donor advocate or independent living donor advocate team. The transplant program that performs living donor transplantation must identify either an independent living donor advocate or an independent living donor advocate team to ensure protection of the rights of living donors and prospective living donors.

(1) The independent living donor advocate or independent living donor advocate team must not be involved in transplantation activities on a routine basis.

(2) The independent living donor advocate or independent living donor advocate team must demonstrate:

(i) Knowledge of living organ donation, transplantation, medical ethics, and informed consent; and

(ii) Understanding of the potential impact of family and other external pressures on the prospective living donor's decision whether to donate and the ability to discuss these issues with the donor.

(3) The independent living donor advocate or independent living donor advocate team is responsible for:

(i) Representing and advising the donor;

(ii) Protecting and promoting the interests of the donor; and

(iii) Respecting the donor's decision and ensuring that the donor's decision is informed and free from coercion.

(e) Standard: Transplant team. The transplant program must identify a multidisciplinary transplant team and describe the responsibilities of each member of the team. The team must be composed of individuals with the appropriate qualifications, training, and experience in the relevant areas of medicine, nursing, nutrition, social services, transplant coordination, and pharmacology.

(f) Standard: Resource commitment. The transplant program must demonstrate availability of expertise in internal medicine, surgery, anesthesiology, immunology, infectious disease control, pathology, radiology, blood banking, and patient education as related to the provision of transplantation services.

[72 FR 15273, Mar. 30, 2007, as amended at 84 FR 51822, Sept. 30, 2019]

The transplant program must ensure that the hospital in which it operates has a written agreement for the receipt of organs with an OPO designated by the Secretary that identifies specific responsibilities for the hospital and for the OPO with respect to organ recovery and organ allocation.

[72 FR 15273, Mar. 30, 2007, as amended at 84 FR 51822, Sept. 30, 2019]

In addition to meeting the condition of participation “Patients rights” requirements at § 482.13, the transplant program must protect and promote each transplant patient's and living donor's rights.

(a) Standard: Informed consent for transplant patients. Transplant programs must implement written transplant patient informed consent policies that inform each patient of:

(1) The evaluation process;

(2) The surgical procedure;

(3) Alternative treatments;

(4) Potential medical or psychosocial risks;

(5) National and transplant program-specific outcomes, from the most recent SRTR program-specific report, including (but not limited to) the transplant program's observed and expected 1-year patient and graft survival, and national 1-year patient and graft survival;

(6) Organ donor risk factors that could affect the success of the graft or the health of the patient, including, but not limited to, the donor's history, condition or age of the organs used, or the patient's potential risk of contracting the human immunodeficiency virus and other infectious diseases if the disease cannot be detected in an infected donor;

(7) His or her right to refuse transplantation; and

(8) The fact that if his or her transplant is not provided in a Medicare-approved transplant program it could affect the transplant recipient's ability to have his or her immunosuppressive drugs paid for under Medicare Part B.

(b) Standard: Informed consent for living donors. Transplant programs must implement written living donor informed consent policies that inform the prospective living donor of all aspects of, and potential outcomes from, living donation. Transplant programs must ensure that the prospective living donor is fully informed about the following:

(1) The fact that communication between the donor and the transplant program will remain confidential, in accordance with the requirements at 45 CFR parts 160 and 164.

(2) The evaluation process;

(3) The surgical procedure, including post-operative treatment;

(4) The availability of alternative treatments for the transplant recipient;

(5) The potential medical or psychosocial risks to the donor;

(6) The national and transplant program-specific outcomes for recipients, and the national and transplant-specific outcomes for living donors, as data are available;

(7) The possibility that future health problems related to the donation may not be covered by the donor's insurance and that the donor's ability to obtain health, disability, or life insurance may be affected;

(8) The donor's right to opt out of donation at any time during the donation process; and

(9) The fact that if a transplant is not provided in a Medicare-approved transplant program it could affect the transplant recipient's ability to have his or her immunosuppressive drugs paid for under Medicare Part B.

(c) Standard: Notification to patients. Transplant programs must notify patients placed on the program's waiting list of information about the program that could impact the patient's ability to receive a transplant should an organ become available, and what procedures are in place to ensure the availability of a transplant team.

(1) A transplant program served by a single transplant surgeon or physician must inform patients placed on the program's waiting list of:

(i) The potential unavailability of the transplant surgeon or physician; and

(ii) Whether the center has a mechanism to provide an alternate transplant surgeon or transplant physician.

(2) At least 30 days before a program's Medicare approval is terminated, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, the center must:

(i) Inform patients on the program's waiting list and provide assistance to waiting list patients who choose to transfer to the waiting list of another Medicare-approved transplant program without loss of time accrued on the waiting list; and

(ii) Inform Medicare recipients on the program's waiting list that Medicare will no longer pay for transplants performed at the program after the effective date of the program's termination of approval.

(3) As soon as possible prior to a transplant program's voluntary inactivation, the program must inform patients on the program's waiting list and, as directed by the Secretary, provide assistance to waiting list patients who choose to transfer to the waiting list of another Medicare-approved transplant program without loss of time accrued on the waiting list.

[72 FR 15273, Mar. 30, 2007, as amended at 84 FR 51822, 51824, Sept. 30, 2019]

(a) Standard: End stage renal disease (ESRD) services. Kidney transplant programs must directly furnish transplantation and other medical and surgical specialty services required for the care of ESRD patients. A kidney transplant program must have written policies and procedures for ongoing communications with dialysis patients' local dialysis facilities.

(b) Standard: Dialysis services. Kidney transplant programs must furnish inpatient dialysis services directly or under arrangement.

(c) Standard: Participation in network activities. Kidney transplant programs must cooperate with the ESRD Network designated for their geographic area, in fulfilling the terms of the Network's current statement of work.

[72 FR 15273, Mar. 30, 2007, as amended at 84 FR 51824, Sept. 30, 2019]