Towards Improving the Transfer of Care of Kidney Transplant Recipients

Kidney transplant recipients require specialized medical care and may be at risk for adverse health outcomes when their care is transferred. This document provides opinion‐based recommendations to facilitate safe and efficient transfers of care for kidney transplant recipients including minimizing the risk of rejection, avoidance of medication errors, ensuring patient access to immunosuppressant medications, avoidance of lapses in health insurance coverage, and communication of risks of donor disease transmission. The document summarizes information to be included in a medical transfer document and includes suggestions to help the patient establish an optimal therapeutic relationship with their new transplant care team. The document is intended as a starting point towards standardization of transfers of care involving kidney transplant recipients. The authors highlight potential risks when patient care transfers are fumbled and propose standardization of patient transfers to mitigate these risks.