UA News

This certification will greatly expand access to life-saving liver transplants at UMC for many patients in Arizona suffering from end-stage liver failure.

University Medical Center now is certified as a liver transplant program by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, known as CMS. This certification will greatly expand access to life-saving liver transplants at UMC for many patients in Arizona suffering from end-stage liver failure.

To gain certification, transplant programs must meet strict requirements stipulated by CMS, which oversees transplantation programs nationwide. These requirements include clinical experience, excellent patient care, superior outcomes, expert staff and adherence to the highest standards of safety. In addition, programs must perform a minimum of 10 liver transplants in 12 months. Once all the requirements are met, Medicare covers the costs for the procedure.

"This is exciting for both adult and pediatric patients in Arizona who need liver transplants," said Nance Conney, director, UMC Transplant Services. Because UMC has not had CMS certification since 2002, its Abdominal Transplant Program has had to refer many of the adult patients needing liver transplants to other medical centers, she said.

"We had to demonstrate the wealth of experience and expertise we have at UMC before they would cover the cost. Now that we are accredited by CMS, additional insurance companies also will recognize us as a center of excellence," Conney said.

"We went above and beyond our goal," said Dr. Rainer Gruessner, chief of abdominal transplantation and chairman of the department of surgery at The University of Arizona. "UMC exceeded the CMS requirement of 10 transplants in 12 months by performing a record 23 liver transplants in 2008. We also had short wait times and some of the best survival rates in the country," he said.

Out of the 23 liver transplant recipients at UMC in 2008, 12 were pediatric patients and seven were infants. The liver transplant team includes surgeon Dr. John Renz. "We now are ranked in the 30th percentile of all pediatric liver transplant programs in the country," he said.

In 2008, UMC surgeons performed a total of 116 transplants of kidney, liver and pancreas transplants; the most UMC ever has done in one year. In 2007, the corresponding number of abdominal transplants at UMC was 64; in 2006, 49.

CMS certification lays the foundation for UMC to soon offer life-saving intestinal transplants as well as combined intestinal and liver transplants to children and adults with irreversible small-bowel failure. This program is being developed by Khalid Khan, a renowned gastroenterologist specializing in intestinal transplantation.

"Our continued success has been the result of hard work by our transplant team and strong support from the hospital and the UA College of Medicine," said Dr. Thomas D Boyer, medical director of the UMC Liver Transplant Program. "A number of transplant programs nationwide are facing decertification amid stricter rules, concern over practices and dropping patient numbers. The fact that UMC earned CMS approval in this environment of reform and rigorous oversight tells us that we are doing the right things for our patients."