*Purpose: The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) requires transplant hospitals to monitor live kidney donors (LKDs) for 2 years post-donation. However, the majority (57%) of transplant hospitals have failed to meet nationally-mandated thresholds (Henderson AJT, 2017). We sought to test the effectiveness of using small financial incentives to increase patient compliance with LKD follow-up in a randomized controlled trial (RCT).

*Methods: We are conducting an ongoing two-arm RCT of LKDs who undergo donor nephrectomy. Using block randomization, LKDs are assigned to the intervention ($25 gift card at time of each follow-up) or control arm (standard of care) upon discharge from their initial LKD hospitalization. Follow-up compliance is tracked over time. We present preliminary 6-month results, using Fisher’s exact test to assess the statistical significance of the difference in compliant follow-up between study arms.

*Results: Among 35 LKDs who underwent nephrectomy from 3/2017-12/2017, 19 were assigned to the intervention arm and 16 were assigned to the control arm. The majority of LKDs (N=27) were Caucasian, with a median age of 48.5 (interquartile range: 36.2-59.0) and no differences between study arms (p>0.1). More LKDs in the intervention arm were compliant with 6-month follow-up (N=15/19; 79%) compared to the control arm (N=10/16; 63%) (Figure), although these differences did not reach statistical significance (p=0.5).

*Conclusions: In a preliminary analysis of this ongoing RCT, we detected a tendency towards higher rates of 6-month compliance among LKDs who received financial incentivization compared to those who received standard of care.

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