Large Joints Feature

Onkos Surgical, Inc. based in Parsippany, New Jersey, has announced two new important partnerships—one with the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) as a 2017 Diamond Level Corporate Sponsor and the other with Patient^IQ, a healthcare data, research and analytics technology company based in Chicago, Illinois. The MSTS is located in Rosemont, Illinois.

"The MSTS is pleased to partner with Onkos Surgical at the Diamond Level. Advances in the surgical management of our orthopaedic oncology patients are best accomplished through partnerships between innovative companies and clinicians. The mission of our organization cannot be realized without the generous support of our sponsors," said Robert Quinn, M.D., president of the MSTS, in the March 17, 2017 news release.

"Onkos Surgical is investing heavily in research and development to bring meaningful innovation to the surgical oncology space," said Patrick Treacy, Onkos co-founder and CEO. "There are many unsolved clinical challenges like aseptic loosening, infection and soft tissue attachment that our company is focused on. Our sponsorship of the MSTS is another strong signal that Onkos is committed and aligned to the MSTS mission of advancing the science of orthopaedic oncology and promoting high standards of patient care through excellence in education and research."

Patrick Treacy told OTW, “Our corporate sponsorship provides Onkos Surgical with visibility and presence to more than 500 members of the MSTS. While Onkos does not have a development relationship with the MSTS, our partnership is important to the success of our innovation initiatives. The closer we are to key opinion leaders, the more feedback we get on current clinical challenges and the applications of our technology, the more relevant our innovation will be to the various stakeholders (providers and patients) involved in improving outcomes in this challenging patient population.”

Onkos Surgical is also partnering with Patient^IQ to launch a platform for the collection of clinical data for surgical oncology patients.

In the March 14, 2017 news release, SVP Commercial Operations Sean Curry noted, "The Onkos Registry aims to provide data driven insights with the systematic collection of outcomes data. The platform will create a secure environment for surgeons and patients to collaborate on clinical data points that will lead to advancements in outcomes measurement for this challenging patient population.”

Patrick Treacy, told OTW, “Onkos chose to partner with Patient^IQ for several reasons.

You just don’t hear about as many options for orthopedic oncology as you do for spine, hips, etc. But Parsippany-based Onkos Surgical, Inc. is changing that.

The company has just announced that it is launching a new service platform focused on preoperative surgical planning called Precision Oncology. The company showcased the new platform at the recent Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) meeting in Denver, Colorado.

"Onkos Surgical was founded to deliver meaningful innovation in the surgical oncology space. We recognize that musculoskeletal oncology is a challenging field as every patient is different, and these differences require a level of precision in surgical planning that delivers the type of personalization that every patient deserves," said Patrick Treacy, company CEO and co-founder, in the September 27, 2017 news release. "In a short period of time, we have made significant investments to advance Onkos' surgical planning capabilities to enhance the surgeon experience in managing these complex cases."

"The heart of the Onkos Precision Oncology platform is uDesign Patient Solutions, a concierge level service that allows surgeons to create a surgical plan tailored to the specific needs of their patient. uDesign allows our Patient Solution Engineers to partner with surgeons to bring their detailed surgical plans to life," said Sean Curry, senior vice president of Commercial Operations. "The result is a level of pre-and intra-operative precision that reduces the number of surgical trays and other instrumentation required in the OR. We are creating a customer experience that simplifies and enhances the surgical planning algorithm."

Steven Gitelis, M.D. is medical director at Onkos Surgical and Endowed Professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery and director, Section of Orthopedic Oncology at Rush University Medical Cente. Dr. Gitelis said, "Onkos Surgical is committed to solving the complex problems that my colleagues and I face daily. The Precision Oncology approach will provide surgeons with a new and differentiated way of planning their cases."

Dr. Gitelis commented to OTW, "The Onkos Surgical Precision Oncology platform is a process that improves surgical planning which benefits the patient, surgeon and the hospital. The patient benefits by a very precise preoperative surgical plan created by the surgeon and in conjunction with the Onkos engineers.

The International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS), based in Zurich, Switzerland, has rolled out the first global, web-based patient Registry, offering a unique international data pool for articular cartilage injury, history and treatment worldwide. According to the ICRS, the Registry is available in English with six more languages coming in the spring of 2017. Current data is restricted to the knee with the ankle, hip and shoulder being incorporated in the near future.

"This is a fast-moving field with many new techniques", said ICRS President Kenneth R. Zaslav, M.D in the December 7, 2016 news release. "The Registry will allow us to coordinate care and research between our members, and it will help companies see relevant problems sooner, and thereby get a feeling for usage of their technologies. In addition, our hope is that the Registry will serve as a pooled data source for comparing treatments thereby facilitating more rapid enrolment in prospective, randomised studies—in turn shortening the overall time for improvements in patient care."

As indicated in the news release, “Crucially, the Registry uses a simple, intuitive web-based interface to harness the data. First, a patient adds themselves electronically and consents to inclusion in the Registry. The clinician then inputs the clinical data, after which the Registry contacts the patient to record their outcome scores and any complications. Along with new data, the Registry is also able to assimilate existing data sets, thereby immediately bolstering the potential for longer-term follow-up of patients who have previously been in trials, or those already part of smaller registries.”

"Within the first year of the Registry we will be able to incorporate 10-year data for some patients and techniques", noted Dr. Leela Biant, chair of the ICRS Registry Steering Committee. Furthermore, in conjunction with core, pooled data sets the Registry software allows clinicians to bolt on additional scores or unique outcome measures relevant to them.

Dr. Biant told OTW, “Surgeons acknowledge the value of arthroplasty registries. Cartilage repair is at the forefront of technological advancement in orthopaedic surgery and regenerative medicine for joints. Surgeons undertaking cartilage repair see the value of pooling data.

The American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR), an organization that collects data and uses it to improve outcomes of primary and revision hip and knee replacement procedures, is announcing its updated web portal.

“Our web portal isn’t static, ” said Daniel J. Berry, M.D., chair of the AJRR Board of Directors. “Our collaboration with AOA [the American Orthopaedic Association] and AAHKS [the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons] this year adds extra measures, bringing our total to 38 PQRS [Physician Quality Reporting System] and custom measures. We are excited to provide a more comprehensive platform that appeals to the specific needs of our participating surgeons.”

As indicated in the September 6, 2016 news release, “AOA’s quality improvement program Own the Bone supports the expansion of the platform by including two additional PQRS post-fracture measures. The AAHKS partnership adds four additional custom measures documenting process and outcomes for hip arthroplasty patients.”

“The National Registry provides PQRS and Meaningful Use assistance in the form the AJRR Orthopaedic Quality Resource Center, which is made possible by partnering with CECity, a Premier Inc. Company, healthcare’s leading provider of cloud-based registry platforms for performance improvement, value-based payment, and professionalism. The Orthopaedic Quality Resource Center gives EPs a way to report their Medicare patients to CMS. At the same time, EPs receive timely, continuous performance monitors, targeted education, access to patient care management tools, Registry benchmarks, performance gap analysis and patient outlier identification, and various resources used to close performance gaps.”

Dr. Berry told OTW, “The Orthopaedic Quality Resource Center now includes measures for post-fracture care coordination and osteoporosis management, supporting Own the Bone’s goal to better identify, evaluate, and treat patients that suffer from an osteoporosis or low bone density-related fracture. In addition to offering more PQRS measures, 2016 reporting also allows for Group Practice Reporting Option (GPRO) for PQRS. Multiple eligible professionals will be able to be analyzed under a single Tax Identification Number (TIN).”

Kyle J. Jeray, M.D., Chair of The American Orthopaedic Association’s Own the Bone Steering Committee, told OTW, “The American Orthopaedic Association was very happy to support the addition of two post-fracture PQRS measures to the 2016 AJRR Orthopaedic Quality Resource Center QCDR for participating surgeons to document and improve their bone health management of fragility fracture patients.

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.