Adoption of a virtual platform has allowed continued maintenance of a large kidney transplant program despite the inability to have in-person visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Investigators report on the rollout and utilization of a virtual pretransplant evaluation platform to facilitate ongoing transplant wait-listing during the early peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. They note that between April and September 2020, 1,258 patients completed an evaluation. During the study period, 247 patients were halted prior to completing a full evaluation, 152 patients were presented at selection, and 113 were placed on the waitlist. There was a 46% reduction in patients in the active referral phase. Due to the virtual platform, a similar number of additions to the waitlist were completed in 2020 (282 patients) versus 2019 (308 patients) despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
