All OPOs must have a sufficient number of qualified staff, including a director, a medical director, organ procurement coordinators, and hospital development staff to obtain all usable organs from potential donors, and to ensure that required services are provided to families of potential donors, hospitals, tissue banks, and individuals and facilities that use organs for research.
(a) Standard: Qualifications.
(1) The OPO must ensure that all individuals who provide services and/or supervise services, including services furnished under contract or arrangement, are qualified to provide or supervise the services.
(2) The OPO must develop and implement a written policy that addresses potential conflicts of interest for the OPO's director, medical director, senior management, and procurement coordinators.
(3) The OPO must have credentialing records for physicians and other practitioners who routinely recover organs in hospitals under contract or arrangement with the OPO and ensure that all physicians and other practitioners who recover organs in hospitals with which the OPO has agreements are qualified and trained.
(b) Standard: Staffing.
(1) The OPO must provide sufficient coverage, either by its own staff or under contract or arrangement, to assure both that hospital referral calls are screened for donor potential and that potential donors are evaluated for medical suitability for organ and/or tissue donation in a timely manner.
(2) The OPO must have a sufficient number of qualified staff to provide information and support to potential organ donor families; request consent for donation; ensure optimal maintenance of the donor, efficient placement of organs, and adequate oversight of organ recovery; and conduct QAPI activities, such as death record reviews and hospital development.
(3) The OPO must provide a sufficient number of recovery personnel, either from its own staff or under contract or arrangement, to ensure that all usable organs are recovered in a manner that, to the extent possible, preserves them for transplantation.
(c) Standard: Education, training, and performance evaluation. The OPO must provide its staff with the education, training, and supervision necessary to furnish required services. Training must include but is not limited to performance expectations for staff, applicable organizational policies and procedures, and QAPI activities. OPOs must evaluate the performance of their staffs and provide training, as needed, to improve individual and overall staff performance and effectiveness.
(d) Standard: Medical director. The OPO's medical director is a physician licensed in at least one of the States or territories within the OPO's service area or as required by State or territory law or by the jurisdiction in which the OPO is located. The medical director is responsible for implementation of the OPO's protocols for donor evaluation and management and organ recovery and placement. The medical director is responsible for oversight of the clinical management of potential donors, including providing assistance in managing a donor case when the surgeon on call is unavailable.