The Office of Patient Advocacy (OPA) and Single Point of Access (SPA) are combined into one component of the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program (Program). According to the Program's contract, the OPA/SPA will:
- Be an advocate for patients. This includes:
- Providing one-to-one support from patient services coordinators to help patients, families, and health care professionals, beginning from diagnosis and continuing through survivorship.
- Identifying and reducing barriers to transplant, including financial coverage and insurance.
- Communicating with patients in a manner understandable to them, such as providing information that fits with the patients’ culture and language.
- Ensuring patient confidentiality throughout the search and transplant process.
- Conducting patient satisfaction surveys and identifying ways to improve the resources and services of the OPA/SPA.
- Evaluating the need for bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplants and for donors and cord blood units, with special emphasis on people from racially or ethnically diverse backgrounds.
- Provide information to patients, families, and health care professionals, such as:
- Diseases that may be treated with a bone marrow or cord blood transplant.
- The transplant process, from diagnosis through survivorship.
- Other treatment options.
- Patient outcomes and transplant costs for each transplant center in the Program.
- Provide an efficient search process through one electronic system (Single Point of Access). This process will:
- Allow patients and doctors to electronically explore the possibility of finding a donor or cord blood unit.
- Search worldwide for all sources of cells.
- Allow a cord blood unit to be reserved or begin further testing of a potential donor.
- Provide updates of the search progress to patients, doctors, and transplant centers.
- Provide experts to guide patients and health care professionals through the search and tissue typing processes.
- Develop and maintain a Program website.
- To view a summary of plans for this website, see Website Content Inventory.
- Please provide feedback about this website.
To learn about the contractor for the OPA/SPA, see National Marrow Donor Program, a Program Contractor.
