To be registered for a transplant, a patient undergoes a complete clinical evaluation by the transplant team. If a transplant is needed, the center registers that patient on the Wait List. Within ten days of evaluating a patient for transplant, the transplant center is required to send a letter informing the patient that he or she has or has not been registered on the Wait List. The following registration status categories are used to track waiting patients:

• Active, describing actively waiting patients whose conditions are favorable for transplant surgery;
• Inactive, describing patients experiencing conditions (e.g., infection) that temporarily rule out transplant surgery;
• Removal, describing patients removed from the Wait List a) by personal, voluntary choice, b) because they have become too ill to survive surgery or posttransplant immunosuppression, c) are recovering adequate organ function, d) have received a transplant, or e) have died.