Physician involvement critical to increasing organ donations

Experts debate how to get doctors to be more a part of the process.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Feb. 11, 2002.

As the list of people waiting for transplants grows longer, physicians more than ever are being considered central to the challenge of raising public understanding about organ donation and meeting this important public health need.

However, many experts maintain that the first step will require education, answers and training within the profession.

"Physicians have nothing to be proud of in this area," said Michael A. Scotti Jr., MD, senior vice president of professional standards at the American Medical Association. "All of our patients will die. We need end-of-life training, and nowhere is this education more needed than in the area of organ donation. We will save many, many lives, and what we accomplish in this area will have a lasting impact."

He was speaking at a joint meeting held last month between the AMA and the federal Health Resources and Services Administration to brainstorm about getting physicians more involved in organ donation. The results will be published in a white paper in conjunction with National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week April 21-27.

"The number of donated organs has not gone up, and physicians are fifth or sixth when it comes to information about organ donation," said Priscilla Short, MD, former program director of the AMA's biomedical science and clinical research division. "Maybe that's part of the problem."

But the barriers to changing physician behavior are significant. According to results from several physician focus groups, physicians are concerned about jeopardizing a family's trust, and fear perceived or actual conflict of interest that could even lead to lawsuits. [...]