Transplantation methods

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for transplantation of a biological material to a plurality of recipients from a plurality of donors. One or a series of paired donations are made, where one or more donors and/or recipients can be international in origin. Improved care and cost savings are obtained by shifting time-based burdens; i.e., dialysis versus transplantation. Additional transplants, including transplants involving international participants, results in the improvement of local and global healthcare.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for transplantation of a biological material to a plurality of recipients from a plurality of donors, the system comprising:
 a first transplant center operable to perform transplantation of the biological material;   a health insurance provider responsible for health care costs for a first recipient; and   a transplant partner operable to identify a paired donation between a portion of the recipients and a portion of the donors, the portion of recipients including the first recipient, the transplant partner offsetting a transplant cost for a second recipient based on a reduction in a projected cost of care over a period of time following transplantation of the first recipient, at least a portion of an amount based on the reduction in the projected cost of care provided to the transplant partner from the health insurance provider.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein one of the health insurance provider, the transplant partner, and the health insurance provider and the transplant partner covers at least a portion of the transplantation costs of the first transplant center. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the transplant provider receives protected health information from the health insurance provider, the protected health information including a number of recipients in need of transplantation. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the transplant partner is configured to provide the transplant center with the costs associated with transplantation and the transplant partner is configured to receive at least a portion of the amount based on the reduction in the projected cost of care over a period of time following transplantation of the first recipient from the health insurance provider. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the biological material is a kidney. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first recipient is a citizen of a first nation and the second recipient is a citizen of a second nation. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a second transplant center operable to perform transplantation of the biological material. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the first transplant center is in a first nation and the second transplant center is in a second nation. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the transplant partner is a member of the group consisting of: a re-insurance company, a consultation company, and a part of the health insurance provider. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of recipients and the plurality of donors are comprised by a pool of a plurality of donor-recipient pairs, each donor-recipient pair including a recipient in need of the biological material and a donor willing to provide the biological material to the recipient. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the transplant partner is operable to identify a paired donation by:
 identifying a first biological material from a first donor to transplant to the first recipient, the first donor and the first recipient not from the same donor-recipient pair, the first recipient overcoming a first barrier including an immunological barrier, the first barrier preventing transplantation between the donor-recipient pair of the first recipient; and   identifying a second biological material from a second donor to transplant to the second recipient, the second donor and the second recipient not from the same donor-recipient pair, the second recipient overcoming a second barrier including a financial barrier, the financial barrier preventing transplantation between the donor-recipient pair of the second recipient.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the projected cost of care over a period of time for the first recipient is reduced due to the providing and transplanting of the first biological material from the first donor to the first recipient and a saving in the projected cost of care is used to offset a transplant cost for the second recipient. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the transplant cost for the second recipient includes a cost of transplanting the second biological material from the second donor to the second recipient. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the transplant partner is operable to identify a paired donation by:
 identifying a third biological material from a third donor to transplant to a third recipient, the third donor and the third recipient not from the same donor-recipient pair, the third recipient overcoming a third barrier.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the transplant partner is operable to identify a paired donation by:
 identifying an n th  biological material from an n th  donor to transplant to an n th  recipient, the n th  donor and the n th  recipient not from the same donor-recipient pair, the n th  recipient overcoming an n th  barrier, wherein n is an integer greater than three.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the first donor is paired with the n th  recipient. 
     
     
         17 . A system for transplantation of a biological material to a plurality of recipients from a plurality of donors, the system comprising:
 a first transplant center operable to perform transplantation of the biological material;   a health insurance provider responsible for health care costs for a first recipient; and   a transplant partner operable to identify a transplant between a portion of the recipients and a portion of the donors, the portion of recipients including the first recipient, the transplant partner offsetting a transplant cost for a second recipient based on a reduction in a projected cost of care over a period of time following transplantation of the first recipient, at least a portion of an amount based on the reduction in the projected cost of care provided to the transplant partner from the health insurance provider, wherein the transplant partner manages a pool including a plurality of donor-recipient pairs, the donor-recipient pairs including the plurality of recipients and the plurality of donors.   
     
     
         18 . A method of reducing healthcare costs for a patient in need of a transplant comprising:
 estimating healthcare costs for the patient over a first time period without the transplant to provide a first estimate;   estimating healthcare costs for the patient over a second time period with the transplant to provide a second estimate; and   acquiring responsibility for the healthcare costs for the patient and transplanting the patient when the first estimate exceeds the second estimate.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the transplant comprises a kidney transplant. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the first time period includes costs of dialysis and the second time period includes costs of the transplant. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the transplant comprises a paired exchange between a first donor-recipient pair and a second donor-recipient pair. 
     
     
         22 . A method of matching a donor and a recipient for transplantation of a biological material from a pool of a plurality of donor-recipient pairs, the method comprising:
 identifying a plurality of 1-way combinations, each 1-way combination including a compatible match between a single donor from a one donor-recipient pair with a single recipient from another donor-recipient pair;   performing a plurality of clinical tests to optimize compatibility of the plurality of 1-way combinations; and   selecting at least one of the plurality of 1-way combinations and performing a transplantation of the biological material from the single donor to the single recipient.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the selecting step includes selecting at least two of the 1-way combinations and performing a paired exchange between two of the donor-recipient pairs.