AJRR inks deal with medical societies for collaborative joint registry

The American Joint Replacement Registry said today it is collaborating with the American Orthopaedic Association and the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons to create a joint registry through the AJRR’s Orthopaedic Quality Resource Center.

The AJRR said its Orthopaedic Quality Resource Center was approved as a Qualified Clinical Data Registry for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Physician Quality Reporting System for 2016.

Through the collaborative effort, the 3 organizations will offer the AJRR Orhtopaedic Quality Resource Center for eligible professionals and group practices interested in submitting Physician Quality Reporting System measures, AJRR said.

“We have long been aware of the importance of collaboration with CMS in building upon our success as a hip and knee registry, and are delighted that our QCDR is being supported by other like-minded orthopaedic societies actively promoting quality reporting. We are very pleased to provide a resource for orthopaedic surgeons to send data to our approved qualified clinical data registry in order to seek CMS incentive payments and try to avoid penalties,” AJRR board chair Dr. Daniel Berry said in a press release.

As part of the deal, the AOA will support the expansion of the AJRR QCDR to carry 2 more post-fracture PQRS measures, which will cater to users of the AOA’s Own the Bone quality improvement program who want to report on osteoporosis management for fragility fracture patients.

The AAHKS will add 4 additional custom measures for hip arthroplasty patients, the AJRR said, bringing the total number of measures up to 38.

“The introduction of additional process and outcome measures for hip arthroplasty patients is an important step in ensuring our members have access to measures applicable to their practice and which will result in the highest quality of care for our patients.  AAHKS supports the expansion of the AJRR as its official registry and looks forward to continued collaboration around the QCDR,” AJRR Prez Dr. William Jiranek said in a prepared statement.

The AJRR said it became the 1st orthopaedic registry to earn QCDR designation from CMS when it was introduced in 2014.