The California Joint Replacement Registry (CJRR) www.caljrr.org is funded primarily by the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) www.chcf.org with additional support from the Pacific Business Group on Health.
So far, the California Orthopedics Association, Anthem, Blue Shield of California, and Cigna has released patient-reported outcomes data by hospitals. This is the first time an orthopedic registry in the U.S. has publicly published such data by hospitals. The CJRR hopes the release of this data will further the national dialogue around Patient-Reported Outcomes (PRO).
It is important to learn about patients’ outcomes as PROs are collected using patient surveys by asking about levels of pain and function before and after joint replacement surgery to determine whether joint replacement improved the quality of the patient’s life. The data helps with shared decision making, drives care improvements, and supports new payment and delivery models anchored in patient-centered care.
The PRO release features a limited set of hospitals as not all participants have a statistically significant number of responses to be included in the report. However, this reporting remains an important step to help stimulate a national dialogue concerning the value of using PROs in quality measurement and improvement, not only in orthopedics, but in many other areas of medicine.
Future reporting will build upon this effort. The CJRR expects to share data on additional California hospitals as PRO surveys are more routinely fielded at more hospitals, and as each facility accumulates more data before and after surgery.
“This is an exciting start to what we expect will become a standard of practice: the collection and public reporting of patient-reported outcomes for joint replacement in California and nationally”, according to Sandra R. Hernandez, MD, CHCF President and CEO.
To view the data, go to www.caljrr.org/pro/index.aspx