Tissue Donation Referral Process for LifeNet Health Partners
Every patient who dies in the hospital is a candidate for tissue donation. Referrals should be made within 60 minutes of the time of death – even if the patient has been previously referred as a potential organ donor. LifeNet Health hospital partners in Northern Florida, the Pacific Northwest, and throughout Virginia can use the information below as a guide to this process.
Initiating a Tissue Donor Referral
| FLORIDA | PACIFIC NORTHWEST | VIRGINIA |
| Call 1-800-535-4483 | Call 1-888-266-4466 | Call 1-866-543-3638 or use our electronic referral process |
Hospice and Medical Examiners may have a different process for referrals
Highly trained LifeNet Health staff are on standby 24/7 to evaluate each case, process donor information in real time, and facilitate consent processes as needed.
Tissues that Can be Donated
Patients who are deemed medically suitable for clinical tissue donation can donate the following:
- Ligaments
- Tendons
- Heart valves
- Veins
- Nerves
- Skin
- Bones
- Corneas/eyes
LifeNet Health also offers expanded options for research donation, providing patients and families with the opportunity to make a difference in advancing better patient outcomes.
Post Referral
What hospital partners can do:
- Provide bereavement support to the family.
- When a family is leaving ask, “What are the best numbers where we can reach you if needed in the next few hours?” Document these numbers in the chart.
- Avoid bringing up donation. Under Centers for Medicare & Medicaid guidelines, it is the responsibility of the donation agency to initiate these conversations.
What LifeNet Health will do:
- Make a plan for how to discuss donation options with the family. We may reach out to the hospital team as needed.
- Facilitate the conversation with the family, usually by phone.
- Provide 30-plus months of ongoing support – a gold standard – to each family as they navigate their grief journey. Our Donor Family Services program has been developed with input from donor families and national grief experts. We have also pioneered a Thanks2You initiative to connect donor families with recipients. Our Healing the Spirit website offers resources and support.
About Us
LifeNet Health is the only full-service tissue bank serving Virginia, Florida, and the Pacific Northwest. We offer a full range of end-to-end services, covering all facets of the tissue donation continuum – resulting in a streamlined experience for partners. This sets us apart from tissue recovery agencies, which rely on secondary processors, creating the need for variations in procedures. Learn more.
