Committees

The Chemical Dependency Committee consists of at least one representative from each of the member hospitals. The tasks of this committee are to monitor and evaluate the screening guidelines for individuals with organ failure who present with a secondary diagnosis of chemical dependency.

The Cushion Fund/Research Grant Committee consists of the OSOTC’s Executive Committee and was originally created to guarantee access to care for individuals who were either uninsured or under-insured and later the fund’s purpose was changed to assisting patients in paying for non-reimbursable medical expenses and medication. Currently, monies from the Cushion Fund may also be designated to support Board approved research grants. This research initiative is intended to identify and establish new or novel projects that focus on supporting collaborative research projects focusing on heart, lung, heart-lung, liver, pancreas, pancreas/kidney or small bowel transplantation in Ohio with the ultimate goal of improving public health. Kidney-only focused projects will not be considered.

The Program Peer Review Committee consists of a representative from each member hospital and a representative from the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). This committee has the responsibility of conducting the annual program peer review to ensure that each member institution and each program continues to meet the standards necessary for entry into the Consortium, and maintains an acceptable survival rate as prescribed by OSOTC standards. In addition, the committee reviews the Consortium’s data in aggregate, focusing specifically on such factors as patient survival rates, transplant volume, and length of stay for the transplant hospitalization.

The Pediatric Heart Program Review Committee conducts the statewide review in the spring of each year by performing case-by-case reviews. Rather than relying on statistical measures to evaluate the quality of each individual program, due to the low volume of pediatric heart transplants performed statewide, each patient’s care is discussed individually.

The Patient Selection Committees, one for each separate organ, consists of a representative from each of the hospitals, a representative from the Ohio Department of Health, an ethicist, and an attorney. The Patient Selection Committee establishes policy that is consistent with both the principles of the Consortium and the requirements of United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) for patient selection. The committees also review proposed amendments to policy changes regarding the selection process for each of the organ-specific subcommittees.

The Transplant Administrator Committee consists of a representative from each of the member hospitals and is charged with the responsibility of providing information regarding UNOS and CMS compliance issues and other management issues as they arise.