American Joint Replacement Registry Releases 2020 Annual Report

ROSEMONT, Ill. (November 5, 2020)—The American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR), the cornerstone of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Registry Program, released its 2020 Annual Report on hip and knee arthroplasty patient outcomes. AJRR is the largest orthopaedic registry in the world based on annual procedures submitted, and the analysis provides insight into U.S. hip and knee arthroplasty practice. The Annual Report, released in conjunction with the first day of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons’ (AAHKS) 2020 Annual Meeting, includes findings from 1,897,050 hip and knee arthroplasty procedures performed between 2012 and 2019, representing an overall cumulative procedural volume growth of 24.4% compared to the previous year.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented times in the United States and the world––yet the AJRR and the development of the AAOS family of registries continue to see unparalleled growth and expansion,” said Bryan D. Springer, MD, FAAOS, chair of the AJRR Steering Committee. “This success is a tribute to the nation’s understanding of the fundamental importance of national registries, but also to the value that our registry brings to surgeons, hospitals and other stakeholders every day. Our procedural growth (over two million and counting) is rivaled by continued growth of data reuse opportunities for participation in multiple public and private value-based care incentive programs. I look forward to continued expansion and growth of all these opportunities.” 

The 2020 AJRR Annual Report marks the seventh annual report from the AJRR. With the collection and reporting of this data, the report aims to provide valuable information to orthopaedic surgeons, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, device manufacturers, payers, and most importantly patients. The 2019 data paved the way for the AJRR to exceed two million procedures as of June 26, 2020, providing even more actionable data to improve patient care and outcomes.

James A. Browne, MD, FAAOS, chair of the AJRR Publications Subcommittee and editor of AJRR Publications added: “As the definitive chronicle of joint replacement in the United States, this year's AJRR Annual Report continues to build on previous work and demonstrates the incredible value of the AJRR. More sophisticated and detailed survivorship curves have been included this year, including device-specific cumulative revision curves. The breadth of data reporting has also been expanded, and now includes analyses of topics such as type of anesthesia, discharge disposition, and body mass index.”

Other highlights from the 2020 AJRR Annual Report showcase new or enhanced Registry capabilities and offerings including:

• Cumulative incidence of revision curves were used to examine survivorship.
• Component specific statistical summaries have been added to this year’s report, displaying common components utilized in hip and knee arthroplasties as well as device-specific cumulative percent revision curves as presented in the 2019 AJRR Annual Report Supplement.
• Additional opportunities for sites to track performance measurements and use Registry data in national quality improvement (QI) programs.
• A 13% increase in patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), compared to the previous year, through continued support of the RegistryInsights® PROM platform and partnerships with third party vendors with the expanded Authorized Vendor Program.
• Peer-reviewed publications and presentations based on AJRR Registry data.

Enhanced analytics is always the goal of each AJRR Annual Report. This year represents the third year completing survivorship curves of revision over time and utilizing CMS data. Much time was spent determining a multi-stakeholder consensus-driven methodology. This created a foundation for the Report and allows for more sophisticated and detailed survivorship curves in the future.

To read and download the complete 2020 report, visit the AJRR website. Slides with figures and data tables as featured in the report are also available.

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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 2.1 million procedures contained within its database. Additional registries include the Shoulder & Elbow Registry (SER), the Musculoskeletal Tumor Registry (MsTR), and the American Spine Registry (ASR), a collaborative effort between the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the AAOS. The Fracture & Trauma Registry will open to full enrollment in spring 2021.

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 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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