Seriously! Organ Transplant Network In US Reportedly Has Outdated Technology

The organ transplant network in the US is technologically out of date. (photo: doc. pixabay)

JAKARTA – A surprising report emerged from The Washington Post. This leading US newspaper reports that the non-profit organization of organ transplant networks in the United States has outdated technology. Even their technology was never fully audited by the federal government.

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) has two responsibilities, namely running the logistics system that supports organ transplants and deciding how to prioritize organ distribution.

According to The Washington Post, a draft report, compiled by the White House's US Digital Services in January 2021, recommends separating the two elements under two different contracts.

UNOS gets about $6.5 million annually from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which oversees the transplant system. But HRSA lacked the technical expertise and had little power to push the network to upgrade its systems.

The Washington Post also highlighted some of the glaring technical flaws in the report.

For example, the UNOS computer system has been completely stuck for 17 days since 1999. One time, the system was down for three hours. This is an alarming timeframe as organs can start to break down and become transplantable in as little as four hours.

UNOS also runs most of its systems from on-premises data centers rather than cloud computing systems, which will improve performance. It also requires manual data entry.

UNOS has never allowed government officials to see the full code behind the system, which the organization says is a trade secret.

Lawmakers are concerned about security flaws in the UNOS system, according to a letter from senators to the Department of Homeland Security seen by The Washington Post.

According to them, there are no cybersecurity requirements for UNOS. The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on US organ systems on Wednesday, August 3, and UNOS chief executive Brian Shepard is scheduled to testify.

Shepard told The Washington Post that the Department of Health and Human Services audits the system annually, that the report is still in draft, and that "the transplant system is safe and effective."

UNOS is the only group that has ever held a contract to perform organ transplants in the United States. The contract is likely to be submitted in 2023.

HRSA told The Washington Post that they are committed to using all available tools to modernize the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network, including leveraging upcoming contracting processes to increase accountability.