Hospital Partnership & DSA Retention
Strong Hospital Partnerships Can Help Protect Your DSA
OPOs facing certification and DSA challenges must be able to demonstrate strong, functional relationships with hospitals across their service area. That requires more than signed agreements — it requires consistent communication, collaboration, and trust between the OPO and its hospital partners.
If hospitals hesitate to formalize or continue their partnership, your OPO may face additional challenges during certification and DSA retention.
MAP strengthens the internal culture, communication, and alignment that support stronger relationships with hospital partners.
MAP was purpose-built for the CMS environment OPOs face today — including certification pressure, DSA competition, and organizational change.
Rather than providing generic hospital-relations consulting, MAP addresses the internal culture, communication, and alignment that shape how an OPO is experienced by its hospital partners.
Why This Matters Now
CMS review may include:
Active hospital agreements
Referral and communication protocols
Trauma‑informed family‑approach standards
Evidence of collaboration
Letters of intent affirming continued partnership
The Risk of Weak Relationships
- Inconsistent communication
- Confusion around referral triggers
- Variability in family‑approach language
- Hospital frustration with turnover or bedside inconsistency
- Misalignment between policy and practice
- Lack of documented collaboration
- These issues can create hesitation, weaken collaboration, and make it more difficult for an OPO to demonstrate strong hospital partnerships.
How MAP Strengthens Hospital Partnerships
MAP is designed to stabilize and strengthen hospital partnerships by aligning:
Mindset — shared expectations and trauma‑informed principles
Alignment — consistent communication and practice across all OPO staff
Partnership — trust, collaboration, and mutual commitment to donor families
MAP creates the organizational conditions that can support stronger hospital relationships and greater confidence in continued partnership
How MAP Supports CMS Documentation
MAP helps OPOs strengthen the organizational practices that support effective hospital partnerships, including:
Hospital agreements
Letters of intent
Referral definitions
Communication protocols
Family‑approach standards
Collaboration summaries
Leadership alignment documentation
MAP is designed to strengthen the internal practices that support confidence, consistency, and collaboration with hospital partners
The Outcome:
Stronger Hospital Partnerships
When OPO teams communicate consistently, understand their roles, and work collaboratively with hospital partners, they create a stronger foundation for continued partnership.
MAP addresses the internal organizational factors that influence how your OPO is experienced by the hospitals it serves.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does hospital retention affect CMS certification?
Strong hospital relationships support an OPO's ability to meet its hospital-agreement and referral-related requirements and to effectively manage donation opportunities within its service area. CMS's current guidance requires qualifying OPOs to maintain written agreements with 95% of applicable hospitals and critical access hospitals in their service area, subject to the applicable requirements and waivers.
What is the MAP approach to hospital relationship management?
MAP (Mindset, Alignment, Partnership) strengthens the internal cultural foundation that shapes how your organization interacts with hospital partners.
Can MAP help with my Corrective Action Plan (CAP)?
Yes. MAP generates organization-specific documentation of the improvement work completed during the intervention. These materials can support your OPO's Corrective Action Plan and provide a structured record of leadership involvement, staff participation, communication changes, culture work, and other corrective actions.
Why do hospitals need to sign CMS agreements?
CMS requires an OPO to have written agreements with 95% of the Medicare and Medicaid participating hospitals and critical access hospitals in its service area that meet the applicable criteria, unless a waiver applies. The agreements must address the responsibilities of the OPO and hospital and specify the meanings of “timely referral” and “imminent death.”
What happens if a hospital refuses to sign?
An OPO that does not meet the applicable hospital-agreement requirement can face a CMS compliance issue. CMS's current guidance requires written agreements with 95% of applicable hospitals and critical access hospitals, subject to the applicable rules and waivers.
How long does a culture reset take?
While every OPO is unique, the initial diagnostic and alignment phase typically spans 3-6 months, with long-form retention occurring over the first year.
Does MAP replace our clinical training?
No. MAP complements existing clinical excellence by ensuring that the organizational and cultural infrastructure exists to support those clinical skills onsite.
Ready to Transform Your Partnerships?
Strengthen hospital partnerships with the nation’s only full-scale, in-person OPO culture-reset intervention.
Contact PATH today for a consultation on hospital retention strategies.