The journey of a kidney transplant patient in Colombia has traditionally been a hospital centric struggle, marked by prolonged stays and fragmented follow up. For the 49,042 people requiring renal therapy, geographic barriers often block access to specialized care. At Colombiana de Trasplantes, we reimagined this journey by placing the patient at the heart of a physician led, ambulatory first system.
Since 2003, we have served 6,459 unique individuals. While our model is built on a seamless three-phase journey, it is designed for flexibility: some patients complete the full cycle, while others may only require the Phase 1 evaluation. Some transition through the first two phases but return to dialysis due to graft loss, and many join us exclusively for Phase 3 after being referred from other centers for our specialized follow-up. We currently manage 18% of Colombia’s annual transplants, replacing traditional hospital dependency with community-based recovery.
First, our Phase 1 evaluation replaces months of fragmented waiting with a comprehensive 8 day ambulatory assessment. In 2025 alone, we evaluated 568 new candidates, ensuring they were clinically and emotionally ready for the gift of life. Second, during the surgical Phase 2, we achieved a radical shift by restricting the hospital component only to the surgery itself, resulting in a median stay of just two days. By day three, 87.5% of our patients recover in their own environment, avoiding hospital acquired risks. We have performed 3,015 transplants to date, with 148 successful procedures in 2025. Third, our Phase 3 lifelong follow up ensures no patient is ever alone. Through a blend of in person visits and a telemedicine platform that now handles 47.1% of our consultations, we provide continuous support across 30 departments. This constant connection is the reason our 2025 cohort achieved a 99.3% survival rate in the critical first 30 days, while 74.1% of all complications were managed entirely in our ambulatory clinics without hospital readmission. What truly sets us apart is our commitment to the value equation. We operate under all inclusive bundled payments that cover the full cycle, including every potential complication. This eliminates financial fragmentation and shifts the focus from billing to healing.
Our results, validated by the international CTS registry, show a 5 year patient survival of 90%. Furthermore, our focus on family education has increased our living donor rate to 39.2%, significantly above national averages.
Our story is one of resilience and scaling. By shifting care from the hospital to the community and using technology to bridge geographic gaps, we have proven that high complexity care can be both more efficient and more human. We are returning individuals to their families and communities with the highest possible degree of health and dignity.