Licking Memorial Health Systems, Lifeline of Ohio, and InVita Healthcare Technologies launch iReferral to Increase Donation and Transplantation in Ohio

iReferral^SM automatically identifies potential donors and streamlines the hospital-to-Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) referral process.

NEWARK, Ohio, Jan. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- InVita Healthcare Technologies, Licking Memorial Health Systems (LMHS), and Lifeline of Ohio (Lifeline), the federally-designated OPO serving central and southeast Ohio, have successfully partnered to launch iReferral to automate LMHS' identification and secure electronic referral of potential organ, tissue, and eye donors to Lifeline. iReferral replaces the prior time-intensive and manual telephonic referral process with seamless electronic system integration that streamlines workflow, returns provider and nursing time to the patient bedside, improves compliance to federal requirements, and maximizes opportunities for donation and transplantation.

"We are thrilled to partner with LMHS and InVita Healthcare Technologies in this innovative process of streamlining the organ and tissue donation referral process," said Andrew Mullins, CEO of Lifeline of Ohio. "Through this collaboration, more lives will be saved and healed thanks to the generosity of the donor and their family."

With over 100,000 patients on the nation's waitlist awaiting a life-saving organ, regulations from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) exist requiring referral by hospital of all prospective organ and tissue donors to their federally designated OPO. 

"Our staff is constantly looking for ways to enhance the high-level of care provided to our patients," said Heather Burkhart, LMHS Vice President of Acute Care Services. "The automation offered through iReferral expedites the donor referral process allowing our healthcare providers to spend more time with the patient and their family during the most stressful of times while securing positive outcomes for transplant recipients." 

"The new system furthers LMHS' efforts to integrate technology that directly impacts patient care while also providing the gift of life to the more than 3,100 people across the state that are waiting for organ, tissue, and eye donations," said Rob Montagnese, LMHS President & CEO.

"Congratulations to LMHS and Lifeline of Ohio on their iReferral launch," said Todd Collins, President & CEO of InVita Healthcare Technologies. "This successful collaboration deploys scalable technology that helps shift nursing and provider resources back to patient care and provides greater access to life-saving gifts for the many in need by ensuring the critical first step of the intricate donation process is streamlined and made more reliable."

This iReferral launch deployed an integration leveraging common healthcare interoperability standards released on and available via the Epic EMR Connection Hub (formerly App Orchard, App Market).

"Our goal is to broadly deploy integrations that move the needle in terms of bottom-line impact" said Wade Liu, Chief Product Officer and General Manager of InVita Healthcare Technologies' Donation & Transplant Division. "With this iReferral launch, we're excited that not only are LMHS and Lifeline freed from reliance on antiquated manual phone calls and duplicate data entry, but by making this critical process more reliable and time-sensitive, more donors and families will be provided the opportunity to donate and save lives."

InVita provides mission-critical and chain-of-custody software technologies for complex medical, forensic, and community care environments. InVita's solutions streamline clinical workflows, optimize supply chains, sample tracking, and visibility across donation and transplantation, blood and plasma operations, the tissue and implant lifecycle, and environments spanning DNA and forensics. InVita continues to expand the iReferral℠ and iTransplant℠ platforms supporting nearly 75% of all OPOs in the United States and used by more than 12,500 medical professionals across more than 100 organ, tissue, eye, and birth tissue organizations around the world. 

Licking Memorial Health Systems (LMHS) is the primary healthcare provider in Licking County, Ohio, and includes Licking Memorial Hospital, Licking Memorial Health Professionals (an employer-based group of more than 100 providers), and Licking Memorial Health Foundation. 

An independent, non-profit organization, Lifeline of Ohio promotes and coordinates the donation of human organs and tissue for transplantation. Lifeline of Ohio serves 97 hospitals and facilities in 38 counties in Ohio and two in West Virginia and is designated as an organ procurement organization through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

SOURCE InVita Healthcare Technologies