May, 2021
We are pleased to announce the results for the Communities of Practice (COP) Executive Committee (EC) elections, which include the Co-Chairs, Members-at-Large, and Early Career Members-at-Large.
See results.
March, 2021
The CURES Act will take effect on April 5, 2021. This will allow patients to access their health information and share it with third-party apps. Importantly, it will also allow access to physicians’ notes.
We are aware that some hospitals have not been as active in educating and training on this required release of records to patients. Once signed, your notes or H&P will be immediately available to patients to see and read. We offer the following suggestions to consider as you address these new changes:
Minimize use of abbreviations:
Avoid medical jargon that may not be understood...
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As we begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel for the COVID-19 pandemic, our country is again faced with events that have hurt members of our AST community. There has been a dramatic increase in violence targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
It is clear that viruses have no nationality and no ethnicity. There is no place for racially motivated violence. The AST remains resolute in our commitment to eradicate systemic racism in all forms, eliminate racial disparities, elevate collegial diversity, deconstruct barriers to a culture of racial equality, and hold the transplant...
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March is National Kidney Month and April is National Donate Life Month. As leading, independent, national organizations representing patients, organ donors and their families, transplant surgeons, and transplant health professionals, the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP), the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS), the American Society of Transplantation (AST) restate our commitment to increased altruistic living organ donation through greater legal protections for a person who becomes a living organ donor. It is unacceptable that Americans with kidney failure are forced...
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The Living Donor Protection Act of 2021 Would Protect Organ Donors From High Insurance Premiums And Create Programs That Encourage Organ Donation.
At the start of National Kidney Month, U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) and U.S. Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) introduced legislation to protect the rights of living organ donors. The Living Donor Protection Act would protect living donors from high insurance premiums, codify Department of Labor (DOL) guidance that covers living donors under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA...
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February, 2021
On February 25, 2021, the American Society of Transplantation proudly presented the AST Innovation Award to the OPTN/UNOS Disease Transmission Advisory Committee (DTAC). This award was accepted on behalf of DTAC by Dr. Jay Fishman, Dr. Michael Ison, and Dr. Ricardo La Hoz, at the virtual Cutting Edge of Transplantation (CEoT) meeting.
DTAC started as an advisory group to the UNOS Board to consider issues related to organ donor-derived infections and malignancies in 2004 and was made into a permanent UNOS committee in 2007.
Before the inception of DTAC, there was no standardized or required...
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December, 2020
After nearly 20 years of tireless advocacy from the transplant stakeholder community and some very committed Congressional leaders, the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act (Immuno Bill) was passed today by Congress and signed into law by President Trump.
The AST commends Senators Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Durbin (D-IL) and Congressmen Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) and Kind (D-WI) for their steadfast support and commitment over many sessions of Congress to make today’s passage a reality.
“Today’s passage of the Immuno Bill by the U.S. Senate and House of...
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After nearly 20 years of tireless advocacy from the transplant stakeholder community and some very committed Congressional leaders, the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act (Immuno Bill) was passed by the U.S. Congress.
The AST commends Senators Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Durbin (D-IL) and Congressmen Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) and Kind (D-WI) for their steadfast support and commitment over many sessions of Congress to make today’s passage a reality.
The AST, representing a majority of medical professionals engaged in solid organ transplantation, has long...
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After nearly 20 years of tireless advocacy from the transplant stakeholder community and some very committed Congressional leaders, the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act (Immuno Bill) was passed today by the U.S. House of Representatives. It is now being sent to the Senate for approval.
The AST, representing a majority of medical professionals engaged in solid organ transplantation, has long advocated for removing the 36-month immunosuppressive drug coverage limitation for kidney transplant patients. The Immuno Bill passage has remained a top...
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Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act (Immuno Bill).
“Today’s House passage of the Immuno Bill is a huge victory for kidney transplant recipients, donors, and their families,” stated AST President Dr. Richard Formica.
The AST, representing a majority of medical professionals engaged in the field of solid organ transplantation, commends the steadfast commitment and resolve of Immuno Bill champions Congressmen Ron Kind (D-WI) and Dr. Michael Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) for their extraordinary efforts to...
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