Research Spotlight
Navigating Conflicting Imperatives: A Call for Healthcare Leaders to Contribute to Organ Procurement Research
Jay Dennard, FACHE, FHFMA, CPXP, is inviting healthcare leaders who serve in executive or senior leadership roles to contribute to his Doctor of Public Health dissertation research at the University of Georgia. The study explores the competing pressures leaders face when making decisions around organ procurement. Participation means one anonymous survey of 10–15 minutes, completed by Friday, October 9, 2026.
This Research Spotlight explains what the study is, how the survey works, and who is invited to take part, so that eligible leaders can decide whether to participate and others can pass the invitation to colleagues who qualify.
Where Organ Procurement Meets Hospital Leadership
Organ procurement sits where several of a hospital’s responsibilities meet: clinical care at the end of life, communication with families, regulatory compliance, and the hospital’s relationship with its designated organ procurement organization. Federal conditions of participation (opens in a new tab) require hospitals that participate in Medicare to maintain written protocols built on an agreement with that organization.
Under those rules, a hospital must notify the organization promptly when a patient’s death is imminent or has occurred; ensure, together with the organization, that families are informed of their options to donate or to decline; approach families with discretion and sensitivity to their circumstances and beliefs; and work with the organization on staff education, reviews of death records, and the care of potential donors while testing and placement take place. Each of those obligations runs through hospital policy, staffing, and culture, which places the subject within the scope of senior leadership.
For related leadership perspectives, see The Healthcare Executive’s briefs for National Donate Life Month 2026 and National Donor Day 2026.
About the Study
The dissertation’s title frames the study around leadership tensions: the experience of hospital CEOs and other senior leaders when organ procurement decisions involve imperatives that may not align. For the study’s full description, the information page at the start of the survey is the authoritative source.
Research of this kind depends on candid perspectives, whatever they are.
The Healthcare Executive is not suggesting what those tensions are or how they should be resolved. Leaders who participate are encouraged to answer from their own experience.
Who Is Invited to Participate
The invitation is addressed to healthcare leaders who serve in an executive or senior leadership role. The survey opens with information about the study and who may take part; please review it before you begin. If anything there differs from this page, the survey’s own information governs.
If you do not hold an executive or senior leadership role, you can still help by sharing this page with colleagues who do.
About the Researcher
Jay Dennard
- FACHE
- FHFMA
- CPXP
- DrPH candidate, University of Georgia
Jay Dennard is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE), a Fellow of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (FHFMA), and a Certified Patient Experience Professional (CPXP). Over his career he has held senior executive positions in several health systems. He is a Doctor of Public Health candidate at the University of Georgia, and this study is his dissertation research. View Jay’s LinkedIn profile (opens in a new tab).
Why The Healthcare Executive Is Supporting This Research
I have had the privilege of knowing Jay Dennard for more than a decade. Throughout that time, Jay has been a mentor, colleague, and source of professional encouragement. When he asked whether I would help bring this research to healthcare leaders, I was pleased to support the effort.
The Healthcare Executive exists to connect leaders with information, ideas, and opportunities that can strengthen healthcare leadership. Supporting rigorous research by helping it reach the professionals whose experiences can inform it is consistent with that mission.
I encourage eligible healthcare leaders to consider participating and others to share this opportunity with qualified colleagues.
How This Invitation Works
The Healthcare Executive is sharing this invitation to help it reach leaders whose experience can inform the study. The survey is conducted by the researcher, not by The Healthcare Executive. Every survey link on this page opens the official survey in a new tab.
