A Simulation-Optimization Framework To Improve The Organ Transplantation Offering System

Abstract

We propose a simulation-optimization-based methodology to improve the way that organ transplant offers are made to potential recipients. Our policy can be applied to all types of organs, is implemented starting at the local level, is flexible with respect to simultaneous offers of an organ to multiple patients, and takes into account the quality of the organs under consideration. We describe in detail our simulation-optimization procedure and how it uses underlying real-world transplant data to inform the decision-making process. We present results using our liver and kidney models, where we show that, under our policy recommendations, more organs are utilized and the required times to allocate the organs are reduced -- sometimes dramatically.