By Caren Baginski
MGMA member
Lora Ward Wilson, MBA, CPC, executive director at Pittsburgh Bone & Joint Surgeons, only has one kidney. By choice.
The last page of the January 2009
MGMA Connexion (check your mailbox or
read it online) tells Lora's organ-donor story: from her husband's own successful organ transplants to her decision to give someone else a second chance at life.
There's more than a physician shortage affecting the health care industry; there's also a shortage of organs available for transplants. According to OrganDonor.gov, each day about 77 Americans receive organ transplants, but 19 people die waiting for organs to become available.
While many of us have checked the "organ donor" box on our driver's licenses, it's likely that few of us have considered a living organ donation as Lora did. If you or a patient is interested in donating, the
United Network for Organ Sharing has all the specifics on the qualifications, risks and costs involved.
Here are a few myths and facts about organ donation:
Myth: Having "organ donor" noted on your driver's license or carrying a donor card is all you have to do to become a donor.
Fact: While a signed donor card and a driver's license with an "organ donor" designation are legal documents, organ and tissue donation is usually discussed with family members prior to the donation. To ensure that your family understands your wishes, it is important that you tell your family about your decision.
Myth: Only hearts, livers and kidneys can be transplanted.
Fact: Needed organs include the heart, kidneys, pancreas, lungs, liver and intestines. Tissue that can be donated include the eyes, skin, bone, heart valves and tendons.
Myth: You are too old to be a donor.
Fact: People of all ages and medical histories should consider themselves potential donors. Your medical condition at the time of death will determine what organs and tissue can be donated.
Are you seeing the effects of organ donor shortage in your practice? Leave a comment.
Caren Baginski is MGMA's Web Content Writer/Editor and now knows the first successful living-kidney donor transplant occurred in 1954.
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