Information for referring physicians

If one of your patients is a candidate for an organ transplant, you can start the referral process several ways:

• Call the Organ Transplant Program at 866-292-6668. A physician from the Transplant Team is always on call, so you’ll get an answer on this toll-free line 24 hours a day.
• Call Aurora St. Luke’s Heart Transplant Clinic at 414-646-5410 during regular clinic hours.
• Call Aurora St. Luke’s Abdominal Transplant Clinic at 414-646-2550 during regular clinic hours.

At St. Luke’s, we understand the special relationship between referring physicians and their patients. Our transplant team will keep you informed through every phase of your patient’s care.
Here’s how the process works.

Referral phase

Your patient will have an initial consultation with one of our transplant physicians and our transplant nurse coordinator at Aurora St. Luke’s transplant clinic. (Please note: Your patient will need to bring a written referral from you to the consultation.)

After the consultation, we’ll send you a letter recommending whether your patient should continue with the process.

Patients who proceed will have a comprehensive evaluation and lab work-up over several days.

We will give you a dictated report of all test results with the Patient Selection Committee’s recommendation. It will indicate whether your patient has met the criteria for a transplant and will be listed with the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS). If your patient is declined, the report will explain the reasons.

Pre-transplant phase

Our transplant clinic staff sees every pre-transplant candidate regularly while they’re on the UNOS waiting list. We will fax or mail you a copy of the clinic note with all lab and diagnostic test results from each of their visits.

Pre-transplant candidates are sometimes admitted to Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center for inpatient care management. If your patient is admitted, we’ll give you a dictated discharge summary for each hospitalization.

Transplant phase

The transplant surgeon will notify you when the transplant surgery is performed. The transplant clinic will also send you a copy of the discharge summary for your patient’s hospitalization.

Post-transplant phase

Our team sees post-transplant patients regularly on an outpatient basis in the transplant clinic to monitor their progress and manage their immunosuppressive drug therapy. You will receive a copy of each clinic note with the diagnostic lab findings. If your patient is hospitalized, we’ll provide you with an in-depth dictated report and a copy of the discharge summary.

If your patient has a heart transplant, you’ll get a copy of each biopsy report with information on any medication changes that result.

Your role as referring physician

In most cases, your patient’s transplant physician will provide lifelong post-transplant care, including immunosuppressive therapy. After kidney-transplant patients have enjoyed an extended period of stability, their nephrologist may manage their care. As the primary care physician, you’ll be responsible for your patient’s general health before and after the transplant.
We can provide you with educational material to help you meet your patient’s unique care needs after the transplant. If it’s more comfortable and convenient for your patient to go to your office than to Aurora St. Luke’s transplant clinic, we hope you’ll provide follow-up blood and lab work.

If there is any change in your patient’s general health or medications for conditions unrelated to the transplant, please call your patient’s transplant nurse coordinator or transplant physician at Aurora St. Luke’s transplant clinic immediately.

Living donor transplant

Between brothers

Why choose Aurora? Watch Joe and his brother-in-law share their story about the kidney transplant process at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center.