New Rule Forces Indian Hospitals to Publicly Reveal Kidney Transplant Success Rates
The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) has issued a directive requiring all kidney transplant hospitals in India to publish patient survival rates, deaths, graft failures, and other long-term outcomes on their websites. This move aims to end the lack of transparency that previously left patients to choose surgical centres without access to performance data.
The directive follows a representation by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Captain Brijesh Chowta to the Union health minister, highlighting gaps in tracking long-term outcomes of kidney transplants. Citing a report by two citizens from Mangaluru, the MP noted that while successful transplants receive public attention, complications, graft failures, and post-transplant deaths remain inadequately tracked.
In a letter to state and Union Territory authorities, NOTTO Director Dr Anil Kumar instructed that every transplant hospital must prominently display post-transplant outcome data online and submit complete follow-up data to the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Registry. Hospitals must also inform patients and their families about procedures, risks, and likely outcomes before obtaining consent.
The MP argued that greater transparency would enable patients to make informed decisions. Currently, 824 transplant centres are linked to the registry and are required to record transplant and follow-up data through designated login credentials. NOTTO stated that comprehensive reporting would strengthen monitoring, improve traceability, and support evidence-based policy decisions.
Under the standard reporting format, hospitals must disclose the number and percentage of patients alive, deaths, graft failures, and patients lost to follow-up at discharge, and at six months, one year, three years, and five years post-transplant.
Dr Anupam Roy, additional director of nephrology and kidney transplant at Aakash Hospital in Dwarka, Delhi, called the directive a landmark step towards transparency and accountability. He said it empowers patients with objective information, but cautioned that results should be interpreted in the context of patient complexity and risk profiles.
The directive marks a shift towards greater openness in organ transplantation, addressing long-standing concerns about the lack of publicly available data on hospital performance.
