Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41533291›Full record

ArticleClinical transplantation2026

Using Natural Language Processing to Characterize Early Steps in the Kidney Transplant Evaluation Process Documented in the National Veterans Affairs Electronic Health Record.

Hannah Eyre, David K Prince, Sandra Abrahamson, Richard K Blankenhorn, Evan P Carey, Ryan J Laundry, Whitney Showalter, Jeffrey Todd-Stenberg, Ann M O'Hare, Catherine R Butler

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical transplantation, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Hannah EyreSeattle-Denver Health Systems Research Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, Washington, USA.
David K PrinceDivision of Nephrology, Department of Medicine and the Kidney Research Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6761-5606
Sandra AbrahamsonNephrology Section, Hospital and Specialty Medicine, Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Richard K BlankenhornSeattle-Denver Health Systems Research Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, Veterans Affairs Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Denver, Colorado, USA.
Evan P CareyDepartment of Biostatistics & Informatics, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA.
Ryan J LaundrySeattle-Denver Health Systems Research Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Whitney ShowalterSeattle-Denver Health Systems Research Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Jeffrey Todd-StenbergSeattle-Denver Health Systems Research Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Ann M O'HareSeattle-Denver Health Systems Research Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Catherine R ButlerSeattle-Denver Health Systems Research Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, Washington, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9174-8038

Funding

Strengthening Shared Decision-Making for Older Adults with Kidney Failure Considering Kidney TransplantK23DK129777 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · PI Catherine R Butler · 2022 to 2026
$930k
HSRD VA I01 HX002682NIDDK NIH HHS DK129777NIDDK NIH HHS K23 DK129777Veterans Affairs 5I01HX002682
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEfforts to identify barriers and improve access to kidney transplantation in the United States are limited by a lack of population-level data on early steps in the transplant evaluation process.

methodsWe used a rule-based natural language processing (NLP) approach with clinical notes in the US Veterans Affairs Healthcare System (VA) electronic health record (EHR) and linkage with the United States Renal Data System registry to characterize sequential steps in the kidney transplant evaluation process. Adults with advanced kidney disease (estimated glomerular filtration rate ≤20 mL/min/1.73m

resultsAmong 45,174 cohort members, the median age was 71 (IQR 64, 80) years, and 97.2% were men. There was documentation of kidney transplant being mentioned as a treatment option for 46.3% of cohort members, 28.2% engaged in some type of evaluation for transplant, and 8.4% were referred to and 5.4% evaluated at a VA kidney transplant center. 6.9% of cohort members were added to the national deceased donor waitlist and 3.1% received a kidney transplant. Compared with events identified through EHR chart search and manual review by two clinicians, NLP identified events within 90 days with a precision of 0.82-0.94 and recall of 0.56-0.89.

conclusionThese results illuminate the substantial proportion of patients who engage in early steps in the kidney transplant evaluation process. The work also demonstrates that NLP can accurately identify these key steps in the process as documented in patients' EHRs.

Indexed as

Electronic Health RecordsKidney Failure, ChronicKidney TransplantationNatural Language ProcessingRegistriesVeteransAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleFollow-Up StudiesGlomerular Filtration RateHumansMaleMiddle AgedPrognosisUnited Stateselectronic health recordkidney transplantnatural language processingUS Veterans Affairs

Identifiers

PMID41533291
PMCPMC12802815

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.