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OPTN board shown public metrics dashboard; officials point to weekly updates and downloadable data
Summary
At its May 21 meeting the OPTN board heard a demonstration of a publicly available metrics dashboard maintained by HRSA; the dashboard is updated weekly, offers downloadable data sliced by organ, donor type and region, and shows rising waitlist additions and overall transplant trends.
Sarah Lasky, leader of the data and analytics team in the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Division of Transplantation, demonstrated the OPTN metrics dashboard and urged board members to use the publicly available tool.
Lasky said the dashboard “is updated weekly” and that users can download the graphed data or slice it by organ, donor type or region. She showed national trajectories for transplants and donors and highlighted that recent weeks may appear low when partial-week data are plotted.
The presentation front-loaded three metrics: transplants per year, donor volumes (living versus deceased) and waitlist registrations. Lasky noted long-term increases in transplants since the early 2010s, a COVID-era dip and recurring weekly drops around holidays such as Thanksgiving. On waitlist registrations she said the curve has been rising and appears steeper in recent years.
Board members asked about the dashboard’s update cadence and potential enhancements. One member asked whether updates are scheduled or “random.” Lasky replied the data contractor updates the site weekly and said she would confirm the precise schedule. Members also asked about predesigned dashboard elements and whether OPTN data could be combined with external datasets such as SRTR; Lasky and the Chair said there was no specific active development for this particular dashboard but that improving accessibility and utility across data products is on the organization’s roadmap.
The Chair asked staff to ensure the dashboard link and materials are distributed to board members. Lasky said she would post the link in chat and that the dashboard is reachable from the OPTN website under Data and Calculators → Dashboard and Metrics.
The board’s staff said they will solicit user input as members use the tool and consider follow-up development requests.
