Why did you volunteer to be on the Registry Oversight Committee and the Musculoskeletal Tumor Registry (MsTR) Steering Committee?
I think the AAOS family of registries is the most transformative program the AAOS has invested in over the past 20 years. I was excited to be part of the Board that voted to accelerate this effort. While the Registry Oversight Committee allows me to monitor the progress of the overall effort, the MsTR Steering Committee is where I can play a role in decision-making for my own subspecialty of musculoskeletal oncology.
What’s one thing you want people to know about the Registry that they may not know?
The AAOS is funding this entire effort for high level staffing, infrastructure, data security and legal costs to develop a portfolio of Registries. To date, AAOS has built five registries (four AAOS and one collaborative with AANS) covering thirteen procedure and diagnosis based modules. The cost of each registry can be millions of dollars per year. There are individual and collective benefits for AAOS Fellows and their hospitals and practices to participate in this effort, and I hope that every single orthopaedic surgeon finds a way to do so.
Why do you love Registry data?
The AAOS data collection is evolving in terms of detail and complexity and specific data fields. The sheer volume of patient data collected in American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR) and the other registries will allow us to improve surgeon performance and patient outcomes while also identifying poorly performing implants much sooner. We will be able to answer questions in subspecialties like musculoskeletal oncology that we could never answer with single institution data, given the rarity of the conditions.
What is your practice/hospital/ASC, and how is it using registry data?
Penn Orthopaedics is participating in AJRR, MsTR and the upcoming Fracture & Trauma Registry (FTR) to start. I look forward to our institution participating in all of the registries and utilizing the data to improve our practice performance.