Organizational characteristics of solid-organ donor hospitals and nondonor hospitals

Context - Efforts to increase organ donation include serious attempts in hospital settings, where unrealized donation potential exists. Research on hospital donation must include understanding organizational as well as patient-specific influences on the donation process. Objective - To identify organizational characteristics that distinguish hospitals producing organ donations from those that do not, and to estimate the number of nondonor hospitals with donor potential. Design - Data from the American Hospital Association's 1992 annual survey of hospitals were matched to Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network information from the United Network for Organ Sharing regarding the number of solid-organ donors in 1992. Hospitals with donation capability were identified, based on bed size and factors necessary to produce successful donor maintenance and organ recovery. Based on statistical analyses, organizational characteristics distinguishing donor hospitals from nondonor hospitals were identified. We also compared the number of donors and the number of donor hospitals in 1992 and 1996. Setting - United States. Results - Among all hospitals affiliated with the American Hospital Association (n=5607), 1214 (22%) were identified as donor hospitals (≥1 donation in 1992). Of 2333 hospitals with procurement capability, 1268 (54%) produced no donors in 1992. Based on a multiple logistic regression model, donor hospitals differed from nondonor hospitals by hospital ownership, with municipally owned hospitals more likely and federally owned hospitals less likely to produce donation, compared with for- profit and not-for-profit hospitals. Other organizational characteristics associated with donor hospitals were level of trauma services, whether the hospital had a transplant surgery program or a hospital ethics committee, and whether it was located in the South Atlantic, Southwest Central, or Pacific regions of the United States. Conclusions - Among hospitals not currently producing organ donations, there is a sizable subgroup with donor potential. This area merits further attention.