The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) launched the Shoulder and Elbow Registry (SER) in October 2018. With an initial focus on shoulder arthroplasty, the registry steering committee, led by Dr. Gerald R. Williams Jr., recently expanded the program to include elbow arthroplasty and rotator cuff repair.
The patient-reported outcome tools used in this registry are PROMIS-10 Global, VR-12, SANE, and ASES. They are also collecting comorbidities, BMI, length of stay, complications, and American Society of Anesthesiologists Score as optional data points.
SER Participation Benefits and Features
So why participate in this registry? The big selling point is the future ability for surgeons to benchmark de-identified data on a national level. Naturally, this requires many surgeons to sign up and participate by collecting and submitting data. This is a big undertaking – especially for surgeons who do not have the support of an academic center to carry the administrative workload. If successful, the SER highlights the following benefits and features to its members:
SER Benefits Include:
- Informed decisions by utilizing SER metrics and national benchmarks
- Ability to re-use data to meet the participation standards of federal quality initiatives, insurer distinction programs, and certification program
- Providing data to make informed decisions on reducing complications and revision rates
- Sharing ideas/best practices through the User Group Network
- Device surveillance capabilities to identify poor-performing implants
- A Public Advisory Board that helps ensure the patient voice is represented
- Demonstrating commitment to quality care through Registry participation
SER Features Include:
- An Authorized User account and unlimited Data Submission accounts
- Surgeon User account to access dashboards on their patient population
- Access to national performance benchmarks
- Access to the RegistryInsights patient-reported outcome (PRO) platform
- Custom reports created by the AAOS Registry Program analytics team
- Access to monthly Registry webinars and technical support
SER Registry Goals
AAOS is committed to providing an infrastructure for its members to study outcome data on their procedures and this registry supports that goal. “Registries will serve a vital role in empowering orthopedic surgeons to demonstrate quality based on their data,” says Dr. Williams. The data from the Shoulder and Elbow Registry (SER) will help improve patient care by providing insights to participating hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, practice groups, surgeons, and site administrators.
