Nearly half of Americans with kidney failure who are referred for a kidney transplant never take a single step toward the evaluation process, and fewer than one in five ultimately reach the transplant waiting list, according to the largest national study ever conducted on what happens between a transplant referral and a transplant waitlist placement. The findings, from researchers at NYU Langone Health led by Dr. Conor B. Donnelly, analyzed 720,348 patients referred across 110 kidney transplant centers and were published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, with the study presented at the American Transplant Congress in Boston in June 2026.
The numbers are stark: 48% of referred patients never initiated the evaluation process. Only 19% completed evaluation and were placed on the waitlist. And only 10% ultimately received a transplant from this national pool of referred patients.
