Advocating for Lifesaving Change: AOPO’s 2025 Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill

This May, the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO) brought together more than 20 OPOs and organ donation advocates from across the country for our annual Advocacy Day in Washington, DC. The fly-in aimed at educating Congress on urgent, actionable policy priorities to help save more lives through organ donation and transplantation.

Meeting with over 70 congressional offices, AOPO members shared personal stories and expert insights while advocating for three critical issues:

1. Fixing OPO Performance Metrics Before It’s Too Late

A top priority during Advocacy Day was urging Congress to address ongoing concerns with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) performance metrics, which threaten to destabilize the organ donation system. Under current rules, 42% of OPOs are projected to face automatic decertification in 2026 based on transplant and donation rates which do not reflect real-world complexities and rely on incomplete data.

Compounding this challenge, CMS has yet to provide guidance on how decertification would be implemented. With multiple system reforms already underway – including OPTN Modernization and the IOTA Model – uncoordinated changes could lead to fewer donations and increased risk for patients awaiting lifesaving transplants.

We asked Congress to:

• • Urge CMS to implement an educational and testing period before decertification begins.
  • Pause punitive measures while more accurate and validated performance metrics are developed.

AOPO is already leading a proactive solution. In partnership with 54 OPOs and CMS-certified contractor Econometrica, we are developing a new set of metrics grounded in patient-level data, aligned with expert guidance from the National Academies, and focused on outcomes within OPO control.

The message is simple: we all want to save more lives. Let’s take the time to get reform right.

Pictured: Infinite Legacy Team – Kenny Boyd, Jecoliah Daniels, Ieesha Johnson, Karen Kennedy

2. Accelerating Donation Through Electronic Referral

OPO advocates also highlighted the life-saving potential of automated electronic referral systems in hospitals. These systems notify OPOs in real time when a patient may be a candidate for donation, replacing the current manual process, which is often delayed and inconsistent.

We asked Members of Congress to:

• • Co-sponsor the bipartisan Organ Donation Referral Improvement Act (H.R. 330) to commission a study on best practices for automated referrals.
  • Support forthcoming legislation from Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) requiring EHR systems to automatically notify OPOs when a registered donor dies.

Real-world success stories show what’s possible. A pilot program between ARORA and InVita led to a 48% increase in organ donors, 71% more organs transplanted, and over 340 hours of hospital staff time saved.

3. Joining the Congressional Organ Transplant Caucus

Finally, advocates encouraged Members of Congress to join the bipartisan Congressional Organ Transplant Caucus, co-chaired by Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) and Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA). The caucus provides a platform for lawmakers to engage with the donation and transplantation community to help advance life-saving policies.

By joining, Members can:

• • Stay informed on key issues in donation and transplantation
  • Hear directly from donor families and recipients
  • Support bipartisan solutions that save lives

We provided offices with information on how to join and emphasized the importance of understanding what’s at stake for the more than 100,000 Americans waiting for a transplant.

Pictured: Annette Washington (Versiti Advisory Board Chair, Donor Mom & Living Kidney Donor), Anne Krueger (Versiti), Yoshka Munyon (Legislative Correspondent for Congressman Scott Fitzgerald), Rebecca Quall (Versiti)

Looking Ahead

Advocacy Day may last just one day, but the impact will be long-lasting. The commitment shown by our members to educate their legislators strengthens our resolve to continue building an even more effective, compassionate, efficient, and equitable organ donation system – together.

Thank you,
Steve Miller, MBA, CAE
AOPO CEO