LiveOnNY and MediGO Collaborate to Launch Groundbreaking Real Time Organ Tracking Technology to Increase Transparency and Accountability Within the Organ Donation and Transplant Ecosystem

NEW YORK, NY (March 24, 2023)— LiveOnNY, the federally designated organ procurement organization (OPO) for the New York City metropolitan area, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties, and the lower Hudson Valley, and MediGO, a digital healthcare supply chain technology company focused on improving equity, access and transparency in the organ donation and transplant industry, announced today that they are working together to track organs as they move around the country via proprietary technology allowing for real time GPS tracking. The goal of this collaboration is to produce greater transparency as organs move across the country, which will result in identifying issues proactively to ensure that more lives will be saved through donation.

In 2022, LiveOnNY worked with more generous organ donors than ever before who gifted their organs to the sickest patients across the country praying for a second chance at life. The generosity of these donors and their loved ones resulted in a 30% increase in organs transplanted, with nearly half of these organs requiring transport outside the greater New York City metropolitan area and across the country. This unprecedented growth necessitated the need for better ways of effectively moving these lifesaving organs to those in need.

“Using best in class technology to enable us to increase transparency and accountability, improve efficiency, and save more lives is what the New York community we serve expects of us as the stewards of their precious gifts of life,” said LiveOnNY President and CEO Leonard Achan, RN, MA, ANP, who joined the OPO 16 months ago and installed new leadership across the organization. “Logistical issues should never be the reason that someone’s gift does not save or change a life. No one deserves to die because an organ was lost in transit, especially in a day and age where anything can arrive at your doorstep with integrity within hours of ordering.”

A total of 48% of 1,300 gifted organs were transported out of the LiveOnNY Federally Designated Service Area in 2022. Of the gifted organs transplanted to waitlisted patients in the United States from LiveOnNY, 57% of the recipients represented Black, Hispanic, Asian and other multiracial groups.

“Donation teams manage logistical challenges every day to optimize the gift of life. MediGO’s innovative technology solutions empower industry leaders like LiveOnNY executives to make informed, lifesaving decisions. Our platform allows for real time, transparent management of organ transport. Combined with our centralized, secure HIPAA-compliant communication channel, LiveOnNY is better able to coordinate logistics and manage organs recovered for transplant in one of the most complex cities in the United States,” said Scott Plank, CEO of MediGO. “Effective communication drives transparency and saves more lives, which is both LiveOnNY’s and MediGO’s purpose."

Learn More about LiveOnNY at: http://www.LiveOnNY.org

Learn more about OPO Delivery Management: https://www.gomedigo.io/opo-delivery-management

ABOUT LIVEONNY

LiveOnNY is a nonprofit, federally designated organ procurement organization (OPO) dedicated to saving lives, providing comfort, and strengthening legacies through organ, eye, and tissue donation. The OPO, which was established in 1978, serves a culturally and ethnically diverse population of 13 million residents in New York City, Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley. Working closely with transplant centers and hospitals, LiveOnNY coordinates organ, eye, and tissue donation for transplant, educates the public and healthcare professionals about donation and transplantation, and promotes the importance of signing up on the New York State Donate Life Registry. LiveOnNY works closely with 11 transplant centers, nearly 100 hospitals, and several tissue and eye banks. LiveOnNY is a member of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), which oversees the organ transplant waiting list in the U.S. For more information, please visit LiveOnNY.org.

About MediGO

MediGO’s innovative healthcare supply chain technology digitally orchestrates the U.S. organ donation and transplant system to improve fairness and equity, reduce nonuse of donated organs, and save more lives. Recognized by Edison Awards, Fast Company and Inc. magazine for its disruptive technology, and powered by proprietary algorithms and machine learning, MediGO provides the most actionable data available in the donation and transplantation industry. For more information about MediGO, a JSP Ventures company, visit gomedigo.io.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Media Inquiries:

Josh Knoller, josh@nicholaslence.com

LiveOnNY Inquiries:

Ali McSherry, amcsherry@liveonny.org