Your Transplant Team
Transplant physicians
The Tulane Transplant Institute is led by a multidisciplinary team of physicians and surgeons with extensive training in liver and kidney transplants. As a multi-organ program, our physicians partner with each other and our staff to provide comprehensive disease management for patients with kidney, liver, pancreas and intestinal disorders. With a focus on patient care and outcomes, our team of dedicated physicians evaluates and treats each patient as an individual.
Board-certified in surgery, our physicians also take an active role in the transplant program, from working with potential donors to monitoring the program’s quality initiatives and ensuring the best possible outcomes.
Transplant coordinators
Transplant coordinators are highly trained, registered nurses with vast experience in transplant. You will be assigned a nurse coordinator who will be your contact for any questions related to your care. The transplant coordinators organize your evaluation and monitor you during your time on the waiting list. They are responsible for providing education and coordinating the medical evaluation required for your case.
Once you have received a transplant, they will work with you and your physicians to coordinate your long-term care.
Advance practice nurses
An advance practice nurse is a registered nurse with a graduate degree in advanced practice nursing. APNs provide a broad range of healthcare services, including taking a patient's history, performing a physical exam and ordering appropriate laboratory tests and diagnostic procedures. These specially trained nurses also diagnose, treat and manage acute and chronic diseases, provide prescriptions, coordinate referrals and promote healthy activities in collaboration with the supervising physician.
APNs are an integral part of the transplant team, and they will evaluate patients in collaboration with a physician. They provide patient care in the hospital and the clinic setting. Transplant advance practice nurses facilitate care throughout the transplant process by collaborating with the physicians and surgeons and other team members in all aspects of the patient care. They provide specialized care for patients with liver disease, patients referred for consideration of transplant, candidates on the waiting list for transplant as well as for recipients after transplant.
Financial coordinators
The financial impact of needing organ transplantation can be the source of much anxiety and concern for patients and families. The staff understands the importance of considering the financial aspects of organ transplantation. Because of this, we have included financial resources in our patient care services. In addition to the general information our clinical staff can share with you, we have a specialized group of staff available to assist you in understanding and navigating this important part of your overall care.
Transplant financial coordinators are unique to organ transplant and provide education and counseling on all aspects of the transplant process from the financial perspective. They collaborate and communicate with insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid offices and with the clinical and social services of the transplant team to provide a complete financial plan of care for each individual patient. They are a valuable resource for information regarding all financial aspects of organ transplant coverage.
Every potential transplant patient will have an opportunity to meet with a financial coordinator as part of the routine evaluation process for organ transplant. These councilors will remain important members of your healthcare team throughout the transplant process, often working behind the scenes, but available to you by request at any time in the process.
We have also dedicated social workers who have experience and training in organ transplant. One of their many responsibilities is to assist you in understanding the financial impact of your care. In particular, they will assist you with exploring your options to assist with prescription medication coverage after your transplant.
