Collaborative use of the peer assist model in large transplant programs in the United States.

Context: The basic assumption of the peer assist model is that nearly every transplant center is already doing something that other centers could adopt in order to streamline or enhance their own operations.

Objective: To describe how the Transplant Growth and Management Collaborative used the peer assist model with 2 large transplant centers in the United States and to identify best practices and outcomes.

Setting: The University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center.

Participants: Transplant health care providers (surgeons, nurse transplant coordinators) and administrative staff (program directors, financial advisers, quality representatives).

Intervention: The peer assist model is a mechanism by which a transplant center receives feedback about a specific topic from another transplant center that encountered similar issues and developed effective action plans for overcoming barriers to success; it is a reciprocal model in which knowledge is shared.

Results: The peer assist model benefited the preparation for accelerated growth in 2 of the largest transplant centers in the United States. The collaboration during peer assist visits is an opportune time for transplant centers to learn from one another.