Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients: Collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on transplantation in the United States

Founded in 1987, the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) operates under a contract from the US government administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). SRTR maintains a database of comprehensive information on all solid organ transplantation in the US. The registry supports the ongoing evaluation of the clinical status of solid organ transplantation, including kidney, heart, liver, lung, intestine, pancreas, and multi-organ transplants. Data in the registry are from multiple sources, but most are collected by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) from hospitals, organ procurement organizations, and immunology laboratories. The data include information on current and past organ donors, transplant candidates, transplant recipients, transplant outcomes, and outcomes of living donors. SRTR uses these data to create reports and analyses for HRSA, OPTN committees that make organ allocation policy, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to carry out quality assurance surveillance activities; SRTR also creates standard analysis files for scientific investigators. In addition, SRTR and OPTN produce an Annual Data Report and provide information upon request for the general public. Thus, SRTR supports the transplant community with information services and statistical analyses to improve patient access to and outcomes of organ transplant.