Over the past few years, the funeral industry has seen declining profits. Families are opting for lower-cost services and cremation to save money. In fact, the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) reported that the average funeral home’s profit has declined by 37%.
As a business, funeral homes have had to find ways to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and adapt to the changing economic climate. United Tissue Network works with funeral homes to create body for science donation programs that can reduce costs, increase revenue and improve efficiencies.
Improving Funeral Home Efficiency
The most valuable commodity anyone has is time. The more time spent on administrative tasks and paperwork, the lower your ROI. UTN helps relieve some of the administrative burdens of funeral homes, allowing you to increase your efficiency. Not only does this reduce the cost of providing service to your clients, but it also allows you to spend more time with families to find ways to make their loved ones’ service more special through thoughtful upsells.
For example, when families consent to provide a body for science donation in Arizona, UTN will handle the paperwork and the filing of death certificates, including providing copies of certified death certificates to families. UTN also coordinates the transportation of the science body donation to the appropriate research facility, cremation of the remains once the research is complete, and return of cremated remains to the family or funeral home.
United Tissue Network pays 100% of the costs associated with the transportation and cremation. This provides options for funeral home owners to help families in financial need and who cannot afford a traditional burial or those looking to reduce the costs. It also eliminates overhead, such as embalming, reconstruction, or waiting for families to find funds to pay.
Body donations can create additional revenue for funeral homes by allowing families to spend their money on memorials and other services rather than on cremation. Without having to worry about costs for cremation, embalming, or caskets, families may choose to spend their money on the following:
- Obituaries
- Memorial services
- Memorial urns
- Keepsakes
- Tributes
- Thank you cards
- Burial and vaults
Accepting Science Body Donations in Arizona and Florida
UTN is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and is accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB). We accept science body donations in Arizona and Florida in compliance with the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA). We work directly with funeral homes to handle the arrangements in an ethical and dignified manner, including arranging for any organ donations. Participation in the program is free to families or funeral homes.
Donated bodies are used for medical and scientific research, education, and training to help alleviate an urgent need for tissue. Prior research from human samples has contributed to significant scientific breakthroughs that directly impact lives.
Eligibility Requirements
UTN is committed to accelerating medical research and accepts a broader scope of bodies for science donations than many other organizations. Donor approval rates average about 94% at UTN.
Clients must be adults 18 years or older. Unlike other body donation programs, we accept those of upper age and with conditions such as cancer or dementia. We do not accept body donations for clients with a history of infectious diseases like HIV or hepatitis.
The Body Donation Process
UTN accepts donors up to seven days after the date of death, and most donors are approved after just a brief interview with the next of kin. Families provide a brief medical history, and most approvals come within an hour.
After signing a consent form, UTN will coordinate paperwork and call to schedule transportation. If the family is local, cremated remains will be returned to the funeral home when research has been completed, or the remains may be delivered directly to the family.
UTN provides:
- Removal from the place of passing and transportation to the funeral home
- Continuous refrigerated storage
- Permit preparation and filing
- Death certificate filing, including retrieval fees
- Two certified copies of death certificates sent to family members
- Transportation to United Tissue Network
Funeral homes can email the invoice to UTN and receive an expense check within 30 days.
Contact United Tissue Network
Funeral homes can improve their efficiency and revenue per case when partnering with UTN for science body donations. We simplify the process and handle the details to remove much of the administrative paperwork and costs.
Contact United Tissue Network today at 877-738-6111 or visit our website to learn more about our body donation program.