Different metrics are used to quantify results in healthcare quality. Funders and hospital groups rely on process and structural outcomes to quantify healthcare quality. Clinicians and other medical professionals rely on patients’ responses to treatment and outcome measurements. The days of guessing patient outcomes are long gone, and evidence-based medicine is the norm today. Patient outcomes collection is as old as medicine itself. The significance of a nationwide standardised database, in the form of the South African Orthopaedic Registry (SAOR), is vital, and ethical data collection cannot be overstated. Surgeons must allocate resources in their daily workflow towards implementing evidence-based practice. The community’s requirements are also a crucial factor to consider while assessing the results of surgical procedures.There is no universally prescribed method for establishing a database. It is unlikely for individuals to reach a consensus on the information to be gathered in such a database. As surgeons, we must be committed to a standardised database to collect similar data on a single platform. The SAOR gathers key datasets following international standards and norms.
What’s next for the SAOR database? The SAOR database’s future relies on the dedication and effort of orthopaedic surgeons who contribute to its management, despite the significant cost of maintaining ownership and autonomy. By supporting and overseeing the database, surgeons can ensure that it continues to be a valuable resource for improving patient outcomes and facilitating early referrals, research and innovation.Based on the potential of the SAOR data, the SAOA will be able to play a leading role in adopting value-based care and protecting its members from the funder’s efforts to identify outliers.Intelligent information technology (IT) solutions can facilitate the implementation of the SAOR in daily workflow and its long-term sustainability. These solutions include integrating records from the other large hospital groups into the registry database, redistributing data collection efforts, establishing customised templates for standard surgical procedures, and providing patient education regarding the significance of completing questionnaires. In the healthcare industry of the future, data will be the currency.‘We must, however, always make sure that the orthopaedic registries, established and developed by orthopaedic surgeons, are not handed over to the sometimes shortsighted interests of different stakeholders, including manufacturers and politicians.’ – Nils P Hailer, co-editor Acta Orthop
Read the full article here published in the Congress Edition of the SAOJ:
https://www.saoj.org.za/index.php/saoj/article/view/818/718
