The Transplant Partners Study is conducted by the Research & Planning Group on behalf of many OPOs around the United States. This article provides some national comparative data gleaned from 2016-2020 from 5 participating OPOs.
National Findings
The following statistics reflect comparable satisfaction data from the study. Please contact us if you would like additional comparable data or you would like to review the survey instrument.
Physician Satisfaction
OPOs Included in Study
The OPOs who contributed data to this set include:
- Donor Alliance (2018)
- Gift of Life MI (2020)
- LifeSource (2019)
- Mid-America Transplant (2016)
- Midwest Transplant Network (2019)
Method
The Transplant Partners Study was conducted via Telephone In-Depth Interviews using a census of all Transplant Surgeons who work with an OPO at a local transplant center within their DSA. Interviews were scheduled for 15-20 minute blocks and administered using a standardized survey instrument with a mixture of qualitative and quantitative lines of questioning as well as structured probes. (For some OPOs, nurse coordinators and administrators were also included, but their results are not included here.)
Each OPO supplied a list of transplant partners who are eligible to participate and notified them in advance that they might receive a call from the research team. This letter also contained instructions on how transplant partners could opt in or out of the study. Physicians were provided with an honorarium for their participation.
Population and Sampling
The population for the Transplant Partners Study is defined as all transplant surgeons (and in some studies, nurse coordinators or administrators) who regularly work with their local OPO at a transplant center.
The sample frame for this study includes a list provided by the OPO to the research team of all eligible transplant partners. The research team utilized a census approach to interview as close to all of the provided partners as possible.
Limitations
These national comparisons come from a self-selected group of Organ Procurement Organizations who have expressed an interest in having a third party measure transplant partner satisfaction. The findings are provided for informational purposes and should not be said to be projectable to the entire industry nor representative of all OPOs.
The sample size for each OPO is very small. The largest includes 30 physicians; the smallest includes 15 physicians. Though the research was completed as a census, most OPOs had a few surgeons who did not participate in the study.
Because individual OPOs determined which transplant surgeons were eligible to be surveyed, there is potential for bias. While the research team advised each OPO to include all eligible transplant surgeons, it is possible that some were excluded due to lack of experience or previously known lack of interest.
The data are reflective of a holistic assessment of what transplant partners remember during their total experience with an OPO and not a specific case. Some partners have been working with individual OPOs for many years and their perceptions have been shaped over a lengthy relationship; others have only worked with their particular OPO for a short time and their perceptions have been shaped by recent experience. The sample size was not sufficient to examine length of relationship as an influencer upon satisfaction.
For More Information
If you would like to know more about this study, please contact us.