1. Which agreements are required to join the AAOS Registry Program?

There is one master participation agreement that must be reviewed and signed to participate in our registries.

• The Participation Agreement outlines the terms and conditions of participating in the Registry Program. This includes how and when data should be submitted, term and termination, fees, ownership and confidentiality of data, and other policies and procedures for participation.
• The Business Associate Agreement includes a Data Use Agreement (BAA/DUA), which outlines our joint responsibilities as business associates. This includes elements such as indemnification, breach notification, and specified use of data under the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
• The third part of the agreement consists of appendices for the registries you are interested in participating in.
• The last section has exhibits for each Registry that grant your surgeons access to the Registry Program’s Surgeon Dashboards to view their individual data.

2. I’m currently participating in an AAOS Registry. How do I add on another one?

Your site will only need to sign a brief addendum to add on another Registry. Contact RegistryEngagement@aaos.org to get started.

3. My site’s surgeons do not have access to the Surgeon Dashboards. How can I give them access?

Your site will need to sign a brief addendum to add Surgeon Dashboards to your account. Once this is in place, the Registry Program can provide them access and issue individual logins and passwords. Contact RegistryEngagement@aaos.org to get started.

4. Does AAOS work with an Institutional Review Board (IRB)?

The AAOS Registries are primarily quality improvement registries, and the goal is to optimize patient outcomes, improve quality, and track revisions through the collection of patient, operative, and implant component data. Voluntarily, AAOS maintains a centralized IRB protocol through WCG, which confirms waiver of authorization. AAOS is happy to provide its certificate of action to contracted sites and staff.