The organ supply chain
Geography and the inequalities of transplant logistics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8964353 |
|---|---|
| Authors | H Cole (0000-0002-5985-9843, Department of Geography The Pennsylvania State University University Park PA USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1008-1021 |
| Publication date | 2021-04-21 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-2754 • E-ISSN: 1475-5661 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/tran.12458 |
| OpenAlex | W3154964084 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 46 |
This paper describes how supply chain management practices are applied to the process of organ transplantation in the USA. While these practices are meant to increase the volume of organs available for transplantation, I argue that they may in fact exacerbate existing inequities of access to treatment. This is an especially pressing issue given that the number of people currently on the organ transplant waiting list far exceeds the number of organs available for transplantation, a situation referred to as the organ shortage crisis . A contributing factor to this disparity is the spatiotemporal distribution of transplant centres, donors, and recipients, considering that the transplant process is so time‐sensitive and time‐intensive. In response, the healthcare industry is developing systems that smooth and accelerate the procurement and delivery of organs, creating a logistical network that is standardised, data‐driven, and able to be deployed at a moment’s notice. However, these new systems draw design inspiration from those originally developed for profit‐based corporate supply chains, and thus risk employing the spatial logics of corporate supply chain management practices. Drawing from interviews with transplant and other medical professionals, I argue that applying these practices to the organ transplant network may end up privileging already‐advantaged patients, when instead, a truly equitable network must attend to the uneven landscape of transplantation in the USA. Furthermore, I argue that these technologies should not necessarily be resisted outright, but rather adopted in the interest of universal access as opposed to the maintenance of profitability
Business · Organ procurement · Organ transplantation · Supply chain · Blood donation and transfusion practices · Marketing · Medicine · Organ Donation and Transplantation · Transplantation
The Deadly Life of Logistics
Strange Harvest
The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers
Tissue Economies
Bodies Across Borders
Consumerist Responses to Scarcity of Organs for Transplant
Organ Trafficking and Migration
Survivability in Kidney Transfer as Becoming
The transport geography of logistics and freight distribution
Geographies of markets
Patterning the geographies of organ transplantation
Vital Geographies
Biosecurity and the topologies of infected life
Of care and commodities
To Make Move and Let Stop
Living Cadavers and the Calculation of Death
Introduction
Personal stem cell banking and the problem with property
Repaying the gift of life
Vital Systems Security
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |