A quality improvement program to reduce the time on the lung transplant waiting list at the Nantes University Hospital

摘要

BackgroundIn 2010, the time on the lung transplant waiting list in Nantes University Hospital (NUH) was 9.2 months, compared to a French national median of about 4 months. The NUH transplant unit performs both heart and lung transplantations, which can be seen as competing activities. To fix the problem, the adult Cystic Fibrosis (CF) team decided to engage in the French CF Quality Improvement Program (QIP PHARE-M) in 2012. The objectives were: i) To reduce the time on the lung transplant waiting list at the Nantes Transplant Unit by increasing the number of lung transplants per year twhile maintaining a 5-year survival rate above the French national average. ii) To improve the organization of the lung transplant access process and the quality of the waiting time for patients.