Contact:
Maggie Baum, 608-438-2814 or maggiebcomm@gmail.com
Pam Kassner, 414-510-1838 or pam@superpear.com
Donate Life Wisconsin and Wisconsin Department of Health Services Launch Technology Welcomed
by Milwaukee Area Healthcare Organizations
The State of Wisconsin and Donate Life Wisconsin (DLW), a non-profit collaborative of healthcare organizations and professionals, have partnered to launch new technology that makes it easier than ever to register as an organ, tissue and eye donor. Funded and developed by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) as a registry enhancement tool, “Swipe to Donate Life” offers a fast, accurate and secure way for people to add their name to the statewide donor registry.
Wisconsin is only the seventh state to use this technology, developed by Countermind LLC. (Just a few other states utilize comparable technology.) More than 100 new registered organ, tissue and eye donors were “swiped” within the first week the technology was introduced. Most registrations came from attendees at last month’s Wisconsin Farm Technology Days where DLW members Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin and RTI Donor Services had a joint exhibit.
Swipe to Donate Life uses iOS and scanner sled technology to quickly and easily scan a driver’s license and accurately populate needed information into an app that communicates with the online registry. A person simply enters their email address, reads and agrees to a short donor consent statement, and hits submit – with the whole process taking less than a minute.
“A key benefit of the technology is that it helps us bring the online registry directly to people and allows donors to register on the spot rather than leaving with the intent to register and hoping they take time later to complete the process online,” says Joanne Grunau, president, Donate Life Wisconsin. “Staff and volunteers who have Swipe on their smart device can register anyone, anywhere and anytime.”
Grunau adds that another benefit is the ability to bring the registry to rural areas, to the elderly and to other people and places without access to a reliable internet connection.
“Swipe is such a creative and innovative way for people to register their wish to be a donor,” explains Colleen McCarthy, vice president, Organ and Tissue Donation, Wisconsin Donor Network/Tissue Bank/Blood Center of Wisconsin. “This simple and convenient step enables more people to make their donation wishes known. The more people who sign up the more lives will be touched through the generous gift of donation.”
The Blood Center of Wisconsin/Wisconsin Donor Network is among several DLW members, including Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin, UW Organ and Tissue Donation and American Tissue Services Foundation, already making plans to bring Swipe to Donate Life to community events statewide.
“We owe a debt of gratitude to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services in partnering with Donate Life Wisconsin to bring this technology to our organizations and broader communities,” said Sara O’Loughlin, director, Transplant Center of Excellence, Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin and Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. “This reflects the great spirit of giving and caring in the state of Wisconsin.”
People can continue to register to be an organ, tissue and eye donor online at DonateLifeWisconsin.org or at the Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles.
About Donate Life Wisconsin
Donate Life Wisconsin (DLW) is a 501(c)3 statewide collaborative and affiliate of Donate Life America. DLW members include organ, tissue and eye recovery organizations, transplant hospitals, kidney and liver foundations and others who work together to save and enhance lives and motivate everyone to become organ, eye and tissue donors.