You've got to be Kid(ney)ing me

 Lets talk about the kidney market, not beans, the organ. A study conducted in 2015 by Cho et al. discussed the competitive market analysis of transplant centers and discrepancy of wait-listing recipients for kidney transplants. The objective of this study was to determine if regions with a higher number of transplant centers will approve and wait-list more end-stage renal disease (ESRD) candidates for transplant, despite consistent incidence and prevalence of ERSD within the US (Cho et al., 2015). ERSD and Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) data was collected from all transplant centers (there are 250 kidney transplant programs in the US). This data included listing data, market saturation, market share, organs transplanted, and ERSD prevalence, as well as a Herfindahl-Hirschman Index to determine the amount of competition (Cho et al., 2015). The HHI was applied to centers within a given state for subsequent comparison, and of those states, 23 were categorized as highly concentrated markets, eight were moderately competitive markets, and five were non-concentrated competitive systems (Cho et al., 2015). The results of this study indicated that when there is a competitive market with many centers in competition and a competitive market without a dominant center, there is a higher percentage of patients that are wait listed for transplants, though the number of patients in need does not change (Cho et al., 2015). This difference in percentage of patients that are listed for transplants based on region suggest a discrepancy in access of ESRD patients and their ability to be listed for transplantation due to center competition, which raises concern of inequitable access to the possibility of renal transplantation for these patients depending on the market in their region (Cho et al., 2015). The competition between these centers can negatively affect patient care. Though it may seem as way to provide more access for patients, medical economics and center competition could have unintended consequences that negatively impact a patient's chances to get on a wait list or get a transplant.

Cho, P. S., Saidi, R. F., Cutie, C. J., & Ko, D. S. (2015). Competitive Market Analysis of Transplant Centers and Discrepancy of Wait-Listing of Recipients for Kidney Transplantation. International journal of organ transplantation medicine, 6(4), 141–149.