26th June 2018
US spine care providers have a brand new tool to measure and improve patient care: a diagnosis-based clinical data registry that tracks patient care and outcomes. Launched by the North American Spine Society (NASS), this web-based platform will allow health care providers to collect and analyse their spine care data and compare it to the de-identified data in the entire registry. Because it is diagnosis-specific, not procedure-specific, the NASS Spine Registry will enhance understanding of spine care treatments, their outcomes, and examine the natural history of spine disorders.
“In order to prove or disprove the effectiveness of spine treatments, the spine field needs to gather evidence,” says Zoher Ghogawala (Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, Burlington, USA), NASS research council director. “With its national reach and comprehensive nature, the NASS Spine Registry will help the spine care field make substantial progress on improving quality, developing best practices, and closing the gaps in medical evidence for spine care.”
From the initial idea to the implementation of a pilot program, the NASS Spine Registry was developed over the past eight years. NASS has made every effort to minimise potential barriers to participation, including cost, privacy concerns, administrative burden, and institutional review board (IRB) participation, a press release states.
“The really exciting and unique thing about the NASS registry is that it is multidisciplinary,” says Daniel Resnick (University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA), NASS president and chair of the NASS Registry Committee. “Despite the fact that more than 90% of spine care is managed without surgery, most existing registries are focused around surgical specialties or procedures. Thanks to the comprehensive nature of this registry, we will be able to see what care approaches are actually helping patients restore their function and reduce pain.”
