AAOS Releases Trends and Outcomes from the Registry Program

CHICAGO (March 22, 2022)—The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Registry Program is pleased to announce the availability of two new clinical data reports – the American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR) 2021 Annual Report Supplement and the AAOS Patient-Facing Registry Report. These reports, which were released during the AAOS 2022 Annual Meeting in Chicago, offer actionable information to guide physician and patient decision making to improve care.

AJRR 2021 Annual Report Supplement
AJRR is the largest orthopaedic registry in the world based on annual procedures submitted. Data presented in the AJRR 2021 Annual Report Supplement were submitted to the AJRR by 1,152 institutions through June 2021, covering procedures from 2012 to 2020. For the third consecutive year, the supplement includes reporting of device-specific cumulative percent revision estimates, drawn from the registry’s unique linkage with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) claims data. This year’s analysis also examines data from patients with a prior diagnosis of COVID-19 whose information was submitted to the AJRR through the capture of appropriate ICD-10 coding.

"The AJRR Supplement provides the most comprehensive picture to-date of patterns of hip and knee arthroplasty practice and outcomes in the United States,” said James A. Browne, MD, FAAOS, chair of the AJRR Publications Subcommittee and editor of AJRR Publications. “Last year, we added ICD-10 coding to the AAOS Registry Program with the goal of monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on outcomes, trends of surgery based on the pause in elective surgery, and the trends of patient-reported outcomes due to delayed procedures. This report not only offers a look at the initial data as it relates to quality of care, but also previews the impact of COVID-19 on CMS value-based payment models and coverage for patients recovering from COVID-19.”

While patient numbers were limited in the COVID-19 cohort (n=296), the unadjusted rate of 90-day readmission was significantly lower compared to the non-COVID-19 group (1.4% and 4.3%, respectively; p=0.013). No significant relationship was found between 90-mortality and COVID-19 status (p=0.41). 

“Although preliminary and not risk adjusted, this data is a first look at COVID and its impact on hip and knee arthroplasty and should provide some degree of reassurance to clinicians and patients,” said Dr. Browne.

To read and download the AJRR 2021 Annual Report Supplement, visit the AAOS’ website.

AAOS Patient-Facing Registry Report
The AAOS Patient-Facing Registry Report provides a general registry overview and features information on the musculoskeletal health data captured by each of the registries in the AAOS Registry Program, which, as of March 2022, contains data from over 1,400 institutions across the U.S. and the District of Columbia. While a registry serves to collect data about procedures, analysis of that data can help surgeons choose individualized treatments and implantable devices that are best for their patients.

In addition to providing high-level summaries of injuries, diseases, and procedures collected within the registry, this report includes information about patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), which are surveys used to capture outcomes, or a patient’s pre- and post-operative health status, from their perspective.

“With the publication of the AAOS Patient-Facing Registry Report, I realize that I can play a meaningful role in improving care for myself and future surgery patients by participating in the surveys provided by my healthcare provider,” said AAOS Public Advisory Board Member Richard Seiden. “The report aggregates my responses with others’ to help surgeons and clinical teams to monitor patients’ recovery, pain levels, and return to daily activities. My survey responses provide direct personal input into a larger quality improvement effort and – over time – help to improve the processes, protocols, device selection, and recovery techniques available to other patients in the future.”

For additional information about the role of clinical data registries play in improving patient outcomes and the quality of orthopaedic care, patients can visit OrthoInfo.org. OrthoInfo features a variety of patient education articles that highlight general trends in hip and knee procedures, as well as surgeon and patient perspectives on how to best prepare for pre-, day-of, and post-surgical needs.

To read and download the complete report, visit the AAOS’ website.

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AAOS Registry Program
The AAOS Registry Program’s mission is to improve orthopaedic care through the collection, analysis, and reporting of actionable data. The American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR), the Academy’s hip and knee replacement registry, is the cornerstone of the AAOS’s Registry Program, and the world’s largest national registry of hip and knee joint replacement data by annual procedural count, with more than 2.4 million procedures contained within its database. Additional registries include the Fracture & Trauma Registry, the Musculoskeletal Tumor Registry (MsTR), the Shoulder & Elbow Registry (SER), and the American Spine Registry (ASR), a collaborative effort between the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the AAOS.

About the AAOS
With more than 39,000 members, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons is the world’s largest medical association of musculoskeletal specialists. The AAOS is the trusted leader in advancing musculoskeletal health. It provides the highest quality, most comprehensive education to help orthopaedic surgeons and allied health professionals at every career level to best treat patients in their daily practices. The AAOS is the source for information on bone and joint conditions, treatments, and related musculoskeletal health care issues, and it leads the health care discussion on advancing quality.

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