• District of Columbia: HHS last week announced several new reforms to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) and organ procurement policies. In July, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) directed OPTN to improve national monitoring and reopen an investigation into an organization involved in organ procurement cases where patients were either improving or had high levels of consciousness. As part of an initiative to increase accountability and transparency in the national organ transplant system, HRSA separated from the contractor that ran the OPTN board and implemented an independent board of 34 members through a national special election. HRSA also launched a public dashboard to flag any concerns during the organ transplant process, including for patient safety and organ allocation out of sequence. All organ procurement organizations are also required to appoint an OPTN patient safety officer to monitor and investigate any patient safety efforts, ensure corrective action is implemented, and be the first point of contact for families, hospital partners, and HRSA. CMS also decertified an organ procurement organization for the first time after an investigation identified years of unsafe practices, poor training, and chronic underperformance. "The reason we're taking aggressive action against failing organ procurement organizations is to make sure that the strong ones continue to thrive," said CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz. (Taylor, Becker's Clinical Leadership, 9/18)
• Maryland: FDA has issued a safety communication warning consumers to avoid unauthorized blood pressure measuring devices, which have not been evaluated for safety or effectiveness. According to the agency, unauthorized devices may fail to detect changes in blood pressure, lead to treatment delays due to an overreliance on alerts to prompt action, and result in inaccurate alerts or readings. FDA recommends healthcare providers counsel their patients about authorized vs. unauthorized blood pressure devices and help them select one going forward. However, MedPage Today notes that FDA authorization doesn't mean that the devices have independent validation for accuracy. For patients who want to use validated blood pressure devices, hypertension specialists suggest using validatebp.org. (Lou, MedPage Today, 9/17)
• Washington: Amazon will invest $1 billion to reduce healthcare costs for its full-time employees. The company will decrease the weekly cost of its basic employer-sponsored health plan from over $7 to $5 while also maintaining its "Day 1" coverage policy for U.S. fulfillment and transportation workers and their families. The company will also decrease the cost of co-pays for primary care visits from $40 to $5. Employees are expected to save an average of 28% on weekly premiums and pay 88% less for physician visits, Amazon said. The changes will take effect beginning 2026. According to Becker's Hospital Review, Amazon's move highlights growing competition among large employers for more generous health benefits. These changes could increase demand for primary and preventive services in certain markets and lead to a greater focus on affordability, which could lead to more competition among employers and raise patient expectations for cost-effective care. (Bean, Becker's Hospital Review, 9/17)

Given the high-profile nature of transplant programs and perceived halo effect on other services, planners tend to regularly evaluate investment in transplant services. But the supply-limited nature of transplants challenges traditional planning efforts because even with high demand there's no volume guarantee. Explore our research briefing to learn how to expand the pipeline of potential transplant patients and engage them across the care pathway.