Federal Regulations
Since the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) was established in 1984, OPOs and hospitals all over the country have worked together to increase the availability of organs and tissues.
While OPOs span both the professional sphere and the general public, they depend heavily on their partner hospitals to help recover as many transplantable organs as possible. The expectation that hospitals and OPOs work together is established in federal and state laws as well as in Health and Human Services (HHS) rules and regulations.
Federal regulations require that all imminent and actual deaths are referred to an OPO representative to allow for the opportunity for donation. It is the OPO’s responsibility to evaluate the viability of organs and tissues for transplantation on a case-by-case basis.