After you begin the liver transplant process at UPMC, we'll assign you a transplant coordinator. Your coordinator will guide you through each stage of your liver transplant journey. The transplant team addresses all aspects of preparing for your new liver, including the financial, mental, social, and physical impacts of transplant surgery.
Our team will perform a comprehensive liver transplant evaluation to ensure that a liver transplant is an appropriate treatment option for you and help you understand what to expect before, during, and after the procedure.
Your Liver Transplant Team
During your evaluation, you'll have diagnostic tests and meet with a number of experts from the liver transplant team, including:
- Behavioral health nurses or psychiatrists — Assist you and your care partner in coping with the stresses associated with chronic disease and the transplant process. They will also assess any current psychiatric/behavioral health symptoms that are being treated or may need to be treated.
- Credit analysts — Review your insurance coverage and benefits information. They will help you to understand your insurance policy and will be your point of contact for insurance changes. They will also explain any parts of the transplant process that insurance does not cover and suggest options to assist with those costs.
- Hepatologists (liver specialists) — Examine you, perform a medical history and physical, and focus on the signs and symptoms of your disease. They may also review other options for managing your condition.
- Nutritionists — Assess your nutritional status, dietary knowledge, and provide education and recommendations for your diet.
- Pharmacists — Meet with you to get a complete list of all the medicines and supplements you take, both prescription and over the counter, and ask you how you take your medicines.
- Research transplant coordinators — Transplant nurses who coordinate and oversee patients who participate in research studies and clinical trials.
- Social workers — Will discuss your support team at home, your prescription insurance coverage, and other social aspects of the transplant process. You will also learn about fundraising options.
- Transplant nurse coordinator — Introduces you to the transplant process and reviews your evaluation schedule. The visit will include a preliminary health screening, a review of your medication, and an overview of the transplant process. Your transplant nurse coordinator is here to answer any questions you may have.
- Transplant surgeons — Evaluate your physical capability and risks for transplant. They will review your current disease management plan and all available treatment options to see if a transplant is the best option for you.
Your Liver Transplant Evaluation
After you receive insurance approval for your pre-liver transplant evaluation, you will work with your transplant coordinator to schedule your appointments.
What happens during a liver transplant evaluation?
During your pre-liver transplant evaluation, you will meet with members of your transplant team and have a series of exams and tests. Your pre-liver transplant evaluation will provide your transplant team with information they need to decide if a liver transplant is in your best interest.
How long does a liver transplant evaluation take?
Your pre-liver transplant evaluation involves a series of exams and tests, so it will take three to five days to complete.
Does my care partner need to come to my liver transplant evaluation?
Your care partner will need to come with you to each appointment. The liver transplant exams and tests are physically demanding. It can be hard for someone with liver disease to get from one appointment, test, or location without help.
Your care partner must also meet with the transplant team and learn about their role before, during, and after your transplant.
Liver Transplant Evaluation Tests
During your liver transplant evaluation, you will have tests to check for signs of disease and see how well your heart, lungs, and other bodily systems are working.
Tests may include:
- Blood work — Checks for signs of infection or illness.
- Chest x-ray — Looks for signs of heart damage, lung disorders, or other health problems.
- Colonoscopy — Allows your doctor to examine the inside of your colon using a thin, flexible tube with a light and a camera called a colonoscope.
- CT, MRI, or ultrasound scans of your abdomen/pelvis — Create images of organs, tissues, and structures inside your body to check for abnormalities.
- Electrocardiogram (EKG) — Measures your heartbeat and your heart's electrical activity (rhythm).
- Mammogram or Pap smear — Checks for signs of breast or cervical cancer.
- Exercise stress test — Shows how well your heart and lungs work during exercise.
What Happens After My Liver Transplant Evaluation?
The liver transplant selection team will review your exam and test results to decide if a transplant is right for you. When possible, your care team may recommend other liver failure treatment options before moving forward with a transplant.
Waiting for your new liver
If you are medically approved for liver transplant surgery, the financial team will work with your health insurance to get preauthorization for your procedure. After your liver transplant is approved by your insurance, we'll place you on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) deceased-donor liver transplant wait list.
If you have found someone who is willing to be your living liver donor, our team will begin the living-donor liver evaluation process to see if they can safely donate a portion of their liver to you.
Your position on the liver transplant waiting list
Your blood type and your model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score decide your position on the liver transplant wait list.
The MELD score is a series of blood tests that measure how your liver works. The higher your score, the higher you will be on the list.
Your UPMC liver transplant team will continue to manage your liver disease while you wait for an organ with your local medical team.
How long is the wait for a deceased-donor donor liver?
Wait times for deceased-donor livers vary. You may be able to reduce or eliminate your wait time by finding a living-liver donor.
While on the deceased-donor liver transplant wait list, you must:
- Be able to get to UPMC within four hours. This will ensure that you can get to the hospital in time when a donor liver becomes available. Family House offers affordable housing for people coming to Pittsburgh for liver transplant treatment. It is not a medical facility.
- Be accessible by phone 24 hours a day.
- Check in with your liver transplant coordinator at a minimum of every two weeks to update us on your medical status.
- Have regular blood tests to recertify your MELD score.
- Meet with the transplant surgical team every six months.
Learn more about traveling to Pittsburgh for transplant services.
Why Choose UPMC for Liver Transplant Surgery?
When you choose UPMC for liver transplant care, you will receive:
- Access to experienced, board-certified specialists — UPMC’s liver surgeons have pioneered minimally invasive (laparoscopic) liver surgery and have performed this technique more than 250 times — making them one of the most experienced teams in the United States.
- Expert care for complex cases — Our program is one of the oldest and largest in the United States. Since the program's inception in 1981, more than 6,000 adults have received liver transplants. This experience allows us to treat patients with complex liver conditions, including those with advanced liver cancer.
- Personalized liver transplant care — From thorough evaluation to world-class treatment, we provide a patient-centered approach to care throughout the entire transplant process. Your dedicated transplant team will guide and support you each step of the way.
By UPMC Editorial Staff. Last reviewed on 2025-12-09.
