April is National Donate Life Month
Prisma Health patients can now register as organ, eye and tissue donors through MyChart, the digital patient portal they already use to manage appointments, test results and medical records.
The new MyChart feature, developed in collaboration with Epic Systems and Donate Life America, makes the donor registration process fast and accessible. Since the feature launched in December, more than 800 patients have chosen to register as donors using the patient portal.
“By integrating organ donor registration into the patient portal that patients already trust, MyChart and Donate Life America have removed barriers to saving lives,” said Rebecca Smith, MD, MyChart physician lead. “Reducing the time from tragedy to identification as an organ donor will increase the likelihood of successful transplantation. I encourage all patients, even if they have signed up through the DMV already, to update their wishes today.”
Across the United States, more than 100,000 people are currently waiting for an organ transplant, including nearly 1,800 individuals in South Carolina and about 3,000 in Tennessee. A single donor has the potential to save up to eight lives, restore vision for two people and help dozens more through tissue donation.
“Organ donation is one of the most selfless gifts a family can give,” said Dr. Todd Merchen, director of Solid Organ Transplant Center and Chief of Solid Organ Transplant Surgery at Prisma Health. “In moments of unimaginable loss, that decision can save lives and offer hope to others. Making it easier for people to register through MyChart helps ensure families clearly understand their loved one’s wishes and gives patients the opportunity to create a powerful legacy of life.”
Although surveys consistently show that about 90% of Americans support organ donation, only about half of U.S. adults are officially registered. In South Carolina and Tennessee, most donor registrations occur at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Offering donor registration through MyChart provides another meaningful pathway to help close the gap between support and action.
When patients sign up through MyChart, their decision is securely recorded in the National Donate Life Registry. That registration follows them wherever they go, even if they move to another state, similar to how electronic medical records travel within Epic’s health record system.
Patients who have already registered as donors through the DMV can still benefit from enrolling through MyChart. Doing so adds another point of access for donor information, helping ensure it can be quickly located in an emergency, especially when care is needed outside a patient’s home state.
The MyChart registration process allows patients to specify donation preferences, including donating for transplant only or for transplant, research and education. Much of the required information is already populated from the patient’s MyChart profile, making enrollment simple. A patient’s donor status is not visible to hospital care teams during treatment. To register, patients can log into their MyChart account, go to the Menu and click the Health Summary. There they will find the option to become an organ donor. Or use the search feature to locate the organ donor information.
MyChart donor registration is for organ donation at the end of life. Patients who would like to learn more about living donation can speak with Prisma Health’s living donor coordinators by calling 864‑455‑1770.
About Prisma Health
Recognized as one of “America’s Most Innovative Companies” by Fortune, Prisma Health is a private, nonprofit health company with more than 33,000 team members, 20 acute and specialty hospitals, 3,166 licensed beds, 490 practice sites, and more than 6,400 employed and independent clinicians across its clinically integrated inVio Health Network. Each year, Prisma Health serves more than 1.6 million patients in South Carolina and Tennessee. Connect with Prisma Health on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter/X and TikTok. Visit PrismaHealth.org.