Newswise — UCSF Health’s Lung Transplant program has been awarded INTERLINK’s 2025 Chairman’s Award for Transplant Excellence as the top-performing lung transplant program in the nation. The UCSF program, which is the in the Western U.S., was selected as the No.1 performing program for lung transplantation for the third consecutive year.
Each year INTERLINK, a national managed care company, identifies the nation’s top-performing transplant programs within their Programs of Excellence network. The award is given to programs that had the highest overall quality scores in the U.S. The award assessment is based on minimum annual transplant volume, Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) risk-adjusted data, Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) data and INTERLINK’s performance modeling program calculations.
“I am incredibly proud of our team,” said , MD, program and surgical director of the UCSF Lung Transplant Program. “Winning this award three years in a row speaks to their heart, skill and relentless dedication to our patients. It is such an honor to be working alongside such an extraordinary group.”
, MD, medical director of the UCSF Lung Transplant Program, believes the award reflects the expertise and devotion of the entire transplant group. “We have innovated care of our patients by fostering a culture of continuous improvement, leveraging intradisciplinary care and utilizing new technologies,” he said.
In 2024, the UCSF Lung Transplant Program performed more than 100 transplants, making it one of a handful of medical centers in the nation to reach that milestone. In addition, the UCSF Lung Transplant Program is the only lung transplant program in the U.S. to achieve significantly better than expected post-transplant outcomes continuously for over 13 years, according to data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients.
Over the last 20 years, the median survival for UCSF patients who underwent lung transplantation climbed from 3.5 years to 10.5 years. In 2001, three-year survival for UCSF patients was 50%. In 2021, it reached 90%. Compared to other transplant programs in the U.S., UCSF outperforms these programs for both one-year and three-year patient survival rates. As of January 2025, the one-year patient survival rate for UCSF Health patients was 95% compared to a national average of 89% for transplant centers in the U.S. The three-year survival rate for UCSF patients was 86% versus the national average of 72%.
UCSF’s lung transplant program was the first in Northern California to adopt several innovations that have increased the volume of lung transplants while improving patient outcomes. The program was an early adopter of an ex-vivo lung perfusion platform – TransMedics Organ Care System – to keep organs viable outside the body for extended periods of time and allow the transplant team to assess if organs are suitable for transplantation. The program was also one of the first centers in the country to put new temperature-controlled devices such as the Paragonix LUNGguard transport system into use for donor lung preservation, facilitating travel from longer distances to safely procure organs and improve the quality of preservation.
The program recently expanded donor pool and patient access with increased donation after circulatory death (DCD) donor organ utilization from 2% to 9% (per United Network for Organ Sharing). It successfully expanded hepatitis C-positive donor program to increase volume and reduce waitlist mortality.
About INTERLINK® COE Networks & Programs
INTERLINK® is a recognized leader in outcome-based contracting and national network development with over 25 years of experience in building Centers of Excellence Networks for high-cost, low-frequency medical procedures used by health plans across the country. INTERLINK also provides Specialty Networks, including oncology, CHD, VAD, CAR-T, Cardiac, and Bariatric surgery. INTERLINK is also known for its revolutionary Performance Modeling Program, which uses risk-adjusted data to identify the top-performing transplant teams in the nation. INTERLINK’s comprehensive cancer management program, called the CancerCARE Program, becomes the first call for physicians as they plan treatment and seek authorization. All proposed treatment plans are evaluated against NCCN Guidelines® for medical concordance or other sources of evidence-based care. CancerCARE has its own Centers of Excellence networks and accesses INTERLINK transplant networks for bone marrow transplants. CancerCARE is offered to health plans of all types and captives for captive-wide adoption.
About UCSF Health: UCSF Health is recognized worldwide for its innovative patient care, reflecting the latest medical knowledge, advanced technologies and pioneering research. It includes the flagship UCSF Medical Center, which is a , as well as UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals, with campuses in San Francisco and Oakland; Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital and Clinics; UCSF Benioff Children’s Physicians; and the UCSF Faculty Practice. These hospitals serve as the academic medical center of the University of California, San Francisco, which is world-renowned for its graduate-level health sciences education and biomedical research. UCSF Health has affiliations with hospitals and health organizations throughout the Bay Area. Visit . Follow UCSF Health on or on .
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