Lori Trahan Confronts UNOS CEO Over Allegedly Holding Taxpayer-Funded Organ Donor System 'Hostage'

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During a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA) questioned United Network for Organ Sharing CEO, Maureen McBride on allegedly putting access to taxpayer-funded system behind a paywall.

Transcript

00:00Mr. Chair recognizes the general lady from Massachusetts, Ms. Trahan, for five minutes of questions.

00:05Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There is no question that UNOS Technology powers the OPTN.

00:11Donor net, excuse me, for example, allows OPOs to manage deceased donor data,

00:19launch match runs, and make organ offers to transplant hospitals.

00:23Dr. McBride, is it fair to say that the OPTN would not be possible without the technology systems that UNOS builds and maintains?

00:32Yes, that's correct.

00:33Thank you. So given the centrality of technology in the OPTN, it is vital that its systems are secure, reliable, and easy to use.

00:43Indeed, in recent years, many federal technologists with backgrounds in the private sector were dispatched to HRSA.

00:49Their mission was to inspect the code of the OPTN to look for bugs, inefficiencies, and opportunities, and implement fixes.

00:59I imagine they expected to spend their time solving the gnarly problems plaguing the OPTN's technology systems.

01:05As it turned out, these mission-driven software engineers and data scientists struggled to even gain access to code and data,

01:13stymied by a resistant UNOS.

01:16This is unacceptable. If taxpayers fund a piece of technology, the federal government should own it, full stop.

01:24Dr. McBride, do you believe the federal government is the rightful owner of the source code underlying the OPTN

01:30and therefore should be able to freely inspect, develop, and share that code?

01:36Thank you, Congresswoman.

01:37Under our current contract with the OPTN, the contract clearly states that the computer system is owned by UNOS.

01:45This is a contract between HRSA and...

01:47So you don't believe that the government should have the right to freely inspect that data that taxpayers fund?

01:54I 100% agree that they should, and they have.

01:58They came to our office this most recent December and were able to freely and openly look at our computer system.

02:05Well, according to an internal memo, government experts had never been able to inspect UNOS systems

02:12in the 30-plus years of the transplantation network's lifetime.

02:17Dr. McBride, your predecessor criticized that memo, contending that government officials could review the OPTN source code,

02:25provided that they physically visit the UNOS office under strict supervision.

02:29Now, I'll be frank, that doesn't look like an open collaboration to me.

02:34It looks like chaperoning.

02:36To your knowledge, has UNOS ever obstructed or otherwise delayed government access to its technology,

02:43including by requiring HRSA engineers to physically visit UNOS facilities to view system code?

02:49I can't speak to what happened during my predecessor's term as CEO.

02:53I can tell you that HRSA has been welcomed into our office to look at our computer system.

02:59We have conversations with them twice a week about what was happening in the OPTN system.

03:06It is a very open, collaborative process.

03:09Well, maybe under your tenure there have been changes made.

03:15It's not what we understand to be true.

03:18I was outraged at public reporting from 2022 that indicated HRSA's technology officials were told

03:26it would cost the government nearly $55 million to purchase UNOS's technology systems.

03:35So, begs the question, has UNOS ever set a price tag on government access to the technology or data technology

03:43that I must point out once again taxpayers paid for?

03:48And if so, what's that number?

03:50So, the data in the OPTN computer system are completely available to HRSA and to anyone else who is interested in-

03:56Without obstruction, without delays.

03:58That's correct.

04:01You know, Mr. Chairman, the public record as well as Dr. Lynch's answers to me appear to contradict the answer.

04:11I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a Washington Post article detailing how UNOS told the government

04:17it would have to pay $55 million to acquire its technology should the OPTN contract ever be opened.

04:24So ordered.

04:26Here's the bottom line.

04:27I'm concerned UNOS is holding the organ transplantation system and its technology, in particular, hostage.

04:35UNOS has consistently shown resistance to federal efforts to modernize the technology and operationalize its data.

04:43We all have a role to play in changing the organ transplantation network for the better.

04:50No one, Congress included, should escape accountability and scrutiny.

04:54I thank the chairman and I'll yield back.

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