American Joint Replacement Registry Receives Special Designation

The American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR) has been designated as a Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), meaning that it will be able to provide an enhanced array of medical outcome data, including patient safety information. Other information will include physician and patient observations and joint replacement concerns. AJRR is one of 41 organizations given such a designation.

According to the news release, “the QCDR program is part of the CMS Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS), a data collection effort that utilizes reimbursement incentives to encourage the reporting of patient outcomes. Currently, eligible professionals (primarily physicians) provide data and information directly to CMS. With the new program, physicians will provide information directly to a designated QCDR.”

“Currently, AJRR receives data from 1, 800 orthopaedic surgeons performing more than 100, 000 procedures at 170 hospitals in 48 states. Next year, AJRR hopes to expand its data collection to include more than 250, 000 procedures, and include physician as well as patient feedback on outcomes. Working with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), AJRR hopes to expand its data collection to include other orthopaedic procedures.“

Patients will not be left out of this data-gathering effort, and for the first time will have the chance to offer online feedback regarding outcomes, side-effects, etc. as related to their treatment and device. And, from January 1, 2015, “physicians who send outcome data to an appropriate and accredited QCDR will receive higher CMS reimbursements.”

Through this new program and accreditation, “more orthopaedic surgeons will provide a broader range of data, and encourage their patients to do the same, on important hip and knee replacement outcomes, including side-effects, pain relief and post-surgical mobility, ” said William J. Maloney, M.D., chair of the AJRR board of directors, and chair of orthopaedic surgery at Stanford University Medical Center in the May 31, 2014 news release. “The collection of this information through one central registry has the potential to significantly improve orthopaedic outcomes, including patient safety.”

“These registries put patients first, ” said AAOS President Frederick M. Azar. “Patients need to know that there is a platform for sharing their joint-replacement perceptions and experiences. The Academy looks forward to working with AJRR to expand the number of procedures included in the data compilation shared with CMS to ultimately provide safer, more successful and cost-effective orthopaedic care.”

Dr. Maloney told OTW, “Hip and Knee Arthroplasty remains AJRR’s primary focus, however we are open to being a resource for the AAOS and Orthopaedic specialty societies as they gain interest in widespread data collection. With appropriate funding the AJRR could serve as a platform for these efforts.”