University Health and Texas Organ Sharing Alliance Launch InVita's iReferral to Modernize Donor Referral Processes

The iReferral® automated donor‑referral technology will help ensure that every potential donor referral is identified and acted upon.

SAN ANTONIO, July 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- University Health, in partnership with Texas Organ Sharing Alliance (TOSA), the federally designated Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) serving more than 7 million residents across Central and South Texas, has launched InVita Healthcare Technologies' iReferral® at University Hospital. This marks TOSA's first iReferral implementation.

TOSA serves 56 counties across Central and South Texas, with offices in San Antonio, Austin, and McAllen. Working alongside 133 hospitals throughout the region, TOSA coordinates the complex process of organ donation and recovery, connecting generous donors with patients awaiting lifesaving transplants.

With more than 100,000 Americans on the national transplant waiting list and an estimated 13 to 17 individuals dying each day, timely donor referrals have never been more critical. For many hospitals, the critical first step — notifying the OPO of a potential donor — still relies on a manual process that can place significant demands on clinical staff, delay action, and create risk of missed opportunities. For University Health and TOSA, that changes now.

iReferral modernizes the hospital-to-OPO donor referral process by replacing manual, phone-based notifications with secure, automated electronic communication. Built to support scalable, standards-based interoperability, iReferral integrates directly into University Health's electronic health record (EHR), applying established clinical criteria to identify potential donor referral opportunities. When those criteria are met, referral information is transmitted directly to TOSA through iTransplant® — InVita's donor management platform used by more than 75% of U.S. OPOs — helping ensure timely notification without additional steps.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations require hospitals to notify their designated Organ Procurement Organization of every potential donor. iReferral meets this requirement by embedding referral alerts directly into University Health's existing EHR workflows, ensuring every potential donor is identified promptly and OPO teams are notified without delay. Hospitals using iReferral have reduced referral time by an average of 10-20 minutes per case, giving back to date more than 10,000 hours to nurses at the bedside that would have otherwise been spent on the phone.

"Our goal is to honor and fulfill a donor's stated wish to provide others the opportunity for transplantation," said Erica Zuniga, executive director for Transplant and Donation Services at University Health Transplant Institute. "This technology enables our healthcare teams to do that by quickly identifying and communicating potential donor information."

"Technology like iReferral helps ensure that no opportunity for donation is missed," said Dr. Joe Nespral, CEO and President of TOSA. "By integrating donor referral directly into the hospital's electronic health record, University Health is helping create a smarter, faster system that ultimately gives more patients the chance at lifesaving transplantation."

Used by hundreds of hospitals nationwide, iReferral has been shown to significantly increase donor referrals, organ donors, organs recovered, and organs transplanted, ultimately helping save more lives.

"We are honored to work alongside our hospital and OPO partners to address the challenges that stand between patients and lifesaving transplants," said Wade Liu, President of Human Biologics, InVita Healthcare Technologies. "With each implementation, we move closer to ensuring more families can ultimately benefit from lifesaving transplantation."

About InVita Healthcare Technologies

InVita Healthcare Technologies delivers the world's most comprehensive human biologics software solutions managing blood, organ, and tissue workflows, enabling unmatched visibility and compliance to improve patient outcomes and save lives. Every day, healthcare organizations rely on InVita's software to carry out their missions and support the communities they serve. For more information, visit invitahealth.com.

About University Health

University Health is the only locally owned health system in San Antonio. For more than 100 years, University Health has been here to heal, improve health, train the next generation of medical professionals and ensure the people of San Antonio, Bexar County and South Texas have access to primary and advanced specialty care close to home. Specialized services include the region's only Level I trauma center for both adults and children, maternal and neonatal intensive care centers designated at the highest levels by the State of Texas and the University Health Transplant Institute recognized nationally for innovation and outstanding outcomes. As the region's only academic health system, University Health is a hub of innovation and discovery, committed to delivering patient-centered, culturally competent, high-quality and compassionate care, based on a strong foundation of outcomes‐based research and innovative teaching. For more information, visit universityhealth.com.

About Texas Organ Sharing Alliance

Texas Organ Sharing Alliance (TOSA), founded in 1975, is one of 56 federally designated organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in the United States. TOSA is committed to a mission of saving lives through the power of organ donation by providing organ donation and recovery services to Central and South Texans wishing to donate, and to those waiting for a life-saving organ transplant. For more information, visit TOSA1.org.

SOURCE InVita Healthcare Technologies