Published 6/26/2025
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Ryan Pezold, MA
The AAOS Registry Analytics Institute® (RAI) continues its mission to improve orthopaedic care and empower the orthopaedic community by making data analyses available. RAI recently approved projects for cycle 1 of 2025.
Since its inception in 2019, RAI has served as a resource for advancing orthopaedic registry science and facilitating insights into hip and knee arthroplasty. By providing investigators with analyses of registry data from the American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR), RAI has contributed to more than 100 publications, presentations, and posters.
RAI is dedicated to elevating musculoskeletal care by enabling rigorous scientific analyses of robust registry data, fostering evidence-based improvements in patient outcomes, informing quality initiatives, and supporting clinical best practices. Clinicians and clinician-scientists can propose registry science analysis projects, requesting trained AAOS analytics team members to analyze data from AJRR, which encompasses millions of hip and knee procedures and linked Medicare data for patients aged 65 years and older.
“RAI plays a vital role allowing clinicians and clinician-scientists from all regions in the United States to access the world’s largest arthroplasty registry. The application process is straightforward, transparent, and provides investigators the opportunity to receive data related to their clinical question in a timely fashion,” shared Richard Illgen II, MD, chair of the AJRR Research Projects Subcommittee and professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Eligibility and how to apply
Applications are open year-round and evaluated biannually, with closing dates of March 1 and Sept. 1. Applications received by the deadline are reviewed within the current cycle. Submissions after the deadline will be considered in the subsequent cycle. AAOS aims to complete analyses and return results within one year of project approval, working with applicants to accommodate abstract deadlines whenever feasible.
RAI analysis requests are welcome from U.S.-based clinicians and clinician-scientists affiliated with a clinical practice or care setting who possess a well-defined hypothesis relevant to orthopaedics or musculoskeletal care. Representatives from industry, federal agencies, commercial entities, insurance companies, administrative databases, or hospital consortia are not eligible to submit proposals.
To ensure broad access and efficient resource allocation:
- Individual applicants may submit up to two applications per cycle (a maximum of four annually).
- Each institution is limited to four applications per cycle (a maximum of eight annually).
- Investigators with accepted applications must submit their results for peer-reviewed publication or presentation at a conference before further applications will be considered.
Application best practices
Applicants are encouraged to follow these best practices to maximize their proposal’s chance of being selected:
- Review AJRR data elements and capture rates prior to applying to understand what data are available for study.
- Review ongoing and recently completed projects to ensure the project being proposed is distinct.
- Clearly define the clinical question of interest, patient population, interventions, and outcomes of interest.
Review and selection
The review process begins with a feasibility assessment by the AAOS analytics team, ensuring that the proposal can be addressed with the available data and that it does not duplicate existing projects.
The AJRR Research Projects Subcommittee, a team of experienced clinicians, then evaluates and ranks proposals and selects the top projects for each cycle. Applicants typically receive notice of the status of their application within 45 days from the close of the application cycle.
Focus areas
RAI collaborates with relevant specialty societies, including the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS), the Hip Society, and the Knee Society, to identify critical priorities.
For the upcoming cycle, at least half of selected projects will focus on the following areas:
- total hip arthroplasty
- impact of robotic assistance
- outcomes with dual mobility articulations
- effects of obesity on clinical and patient-reported outcomes
- total knee arthroplasty
- robotic assistance
- cemented versus cementless fixation
- degree of constraint and its impact on outcomes
- patellar resurfacing and associated outcomes
- impact of robotic assistance
- outcomes with dual mobility articulations
- effects of obesity on clinical and patient-reported outcomes
- robotic assistance
- cemented versus cementless fixation
- degree of constraint and its impact on outcomes
- patellar resurfacing and associated outcomes
Shaping the future of orthopaedic care
RAI remains dedicated to fueling innovation in orthopaedic care by connecting investigators with valuable expert analytic support. Through a transparent and collaborative process, RAI is instrumental in shaping the future of hip and knee arthroplasty and ultimately improving patient care.
For detailed information, application materials, and deadlines, please visit the RAI website or contact the team at registryanalytics@aaos.org.
Ryan Pezold, MA, is director of research at AAOS. He can be reached at pezold@aaos.org.
Highlighted projects approved for 2025 cycle 1
- substantial clinical benefit and minimal clinically important difference following primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA)
- Area Deprivation Index and revision rates for perioperative joint infection following primary TKA
- bearing constraint level and associated risk of revision after revision TKA
- Is inflammatory arthritis an absolute indication for patellar resurfacing in TKA?
- national trends and outcomes of initial revision total hip arthroplasty
- regional trends of patellar resurfacing in primary TKA and subsequent revision rates
- factors affecting community penetration and patient access to robotic TKA