Reducing Financial Barriers to Live Donation: Live Donor Kidney Transplantation Consensus Conference

Lara  Tushla, MSW, LCSW, NSW-C; James R. Rodrigue, PhD; Dianne LaPointe Rudow, DNP; Rebecca Hays, MSW, APSW, NSW-C

doi:10.61658/jnsw.v40i1.56

Authors

Lara Tushla, MSW, LCSW, NSW-C Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL
James R. Rodrigue, PhD Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
Dianne LaPointe Rudow, DNP Recanati Miller Transplantation Institute, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY
Rebecca Hays, MSW, APSW, NSW-C University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison, WI

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61658/jnsw.v40i1.56

Abstract

Live donor kidney transplantation is the best treatment for eligible people with end-stage renal disease. Unfortunately, living kidney donation rates have declined in the U.S. in recent years. To better understand this phenomenon, to identify opportunities to increase donation rates, and to promote best practices in live donor care, the American Society of Transplantation’s Live Donor Community of Practice, with the support of 11 societies, convened the Consensus Conference on Best Practices in Live Kidney Donation in June 2014. The workgroup focused on reducing financial and systemic barriers to live donation, and had a multi-layered task: to review literature assessing the financial impact of living donation; to analyze employment and insurance factors; to learn from international models to reduce financial impact; and to summarize currently available resources. The group provided a series of clinical, programmatic, and policy recommendations to reduce financial and systemic barriers, with the overall goal of achieving financial neutrality for living kidney donations (LKD). In this article, we highlight systems-wide recommendations that would benefit from advocacy by nephrology social workers and their colleagues, and would ultimately improve clinical practice: policies to allocate resources to reduce donor financial burden, civil protections for donors, and a standardized, centralized financial resources clearinghouse.