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NMDP Web Site Offers Improved Resources for Patients
The National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP) has improved its online resources for patients. These resources, along with those on the BMT InfoNet Web site, can help bone marrow or stem cell transplant patients find transplant centers and resource organizations. Updated NMDP Transplant Center Directory To help patients who are being transplanted with marrow or blood stem cells from an unrelated donor choose a transplant center, the NMDP maintains a directory of NMDP transplant centers in the United States. NMDP transplant centers do transplants using unrelated donors or cord blood units from the NMDP Donor Registry. This year marks the 20th annual edition of the directory, which has been renamed Choosing a Transplant Center: A Patient's Guide. Choosing a Transplant Center is an online resource at http://www.marrow.org/PATIENT/patients_guide_idx.html. You can also order a free printed copy of the guide. Call the NMDP's Office of Patient Advocacy at (888) 999-6743 or (612) 627-8140, or order it online at https://www.marrow-donor.org/ CONTACT/MATERIALS/patient_ materials.html. Features of the Online NMDP Directory Patients can search for NMDP transplant centers by
Each transplant center entry includes:
Help Understanding the Information The directory includes links to explanations of how to understand the information. For example, each center's listing includes transplant outcome statistics from that center. Since statistics can be difficult to interpret, a link is provided directly from the statistics to an explanation of what the terms and numbers mean. The directory also includes links to a survey. Users can give feedback to help the NMDP make the directory even more useful to patients in future editions. Using the NMDP Directory Along with the BMT InfoNet Directory You may already be familiar with the BMT InfoNet online transplant center directory. Though the BMT InfoNet directory and NMDP directory include some data that overlap, they offer some different features as well. The biggest difference is that the NMDP directory lists only transplant centers that do unrelated donor transplants through the NMDP. The BMT InfoNet directory includes those centers, as well as centers that do autologous or related donor transplants. In addition, the BMT InfoNet directory includes more information about support groups available and lists the number of transplants the center has done in each of the last three years. It also indicates whether the facility has been accredited by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT), an organization that reviews and accredits transplant programs that have sought accreditation and meet FACT's stringent critera. To access the BMT InfoNet online Transplant Center Directory click here. The NMDP directory includes more information about unrelated donor transplant outcomes and costs. For centers that are listed in both directories, you can combine the information for a more complete picture of the center's experience and strengths. New Searchable Database of Resource Organizations The NMDP Web site now offers a searchable database of resource organizations. These organizations provide a variety of support, education and services. You can search for organizations by services offered, such as financial assistance, home care or legal services. You can also search for organizations by name and limit your search to organizations in a particular state. Each organization's listing includes:
You can search the NMDP resource organization database at http://www. marrow.org/cgi-bin/RELATED_ORG/ search_orgs.pl?type=patient. If you do not have access to the Internet, you can call the NMDP's Office of Patient Advocacy for assistance at (888) 999-6743 or (612) 627-8140. Expanding Your Search for Resources The BMT InfoNet Web site also features a Resource Directory. You may be able to find different organizations by searching the two different directories. The two sites offer different search categories. Even in the same category, the two sites may list different organizations. You can create the most complete list of resources for yourself by checking both the NMDP and the BMT InfoNet resource directories. To search the BMT InfoNet Directory click here.
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