Launched in 2018, the AAOS Board of Directors, through its Registry Oversight Committee, chose shoulder and elbow to be the next anatomical area to expand into the Registry Program. Working in collaboration with the specialty societies, the Academy created this Registry to collect shoulder, rotator cuff, and elbow procedural data in the U.S. in order to establish survivorship curves, track revisions, and improve the quality of care for all patients.
An evidence-based registry, like AAOS’ Shoulder & Elbow Registry (SER), is a cost-effective way to benchmark risk-adjusted data and provide greater context to patient outcomes comparisons. Identifying improvement needs can potentially mitigate surgical revisions which could lead to large savings for stakeholders.
SER Data Elements Collected
The SER collects shoulder arthroplasty, elbow arthroplasty, and rotator cuff repair procedures in three data types: procedural, post-operative, and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) data. Procedural data is patient-related, hospital/practice-related, surgeon-related, and procedure-related data that includes information about comorbidities, length of stay, and operative complications. Post-operative data includes 90-day readmission data and post-operative complications data. A PROM is a survey that captures a patient’s self-assessment regarding their health status and may include questions related to physical function, mental attitude, mobility, social function, and bodily pain.
Procedural
Patient
- Name (Last, First)
- Date of Birth
- Social Security Number
- Diagnosis (ICD-10, CPT)
- Gender
- Race/Ethnicity
- Height + Weight/Body Mass Index
- Payer Status
Site of Service
- Name and Address (TIN, NPI)
Surgeon
- Name (NPI)
Procedure
- Type (ICD-10, CPT)
- Date of Surgery
- Length of Stay
- Surgical Approach
- Surgical Technique
- Laterality
- Implants (Manufacturer, Lot #)
- Anesthesia
Module-specific Procedural Elements:
- Shoulder Arthroplasty Module: Includes codes for replacements, revisions, and fractures
- Elbow Arthroplasty Module: Ulnar Nerve Management
- Rotator Cuff Repair Module: Expanded ICD-10 and CPT options for shoulder, including muscle, tendon, and arthroscopy codes
Comorbidities and Complications
- Comorbidities (ICD-10, CPT)
- Height + Weight/Body Mass Index
- Length of Stay
- American Society of Anesthesiologists Score
- Charlson Index
- Operative and Post-operative Complications
Patient-reported Outcomes
- PROMIS-10 Global or VR-12
- ASES
- SANE
Also Accepted:
- PROMIS Upper Extremity
- PROMIS-29
- PROMIS Anxiety
- PROMIS Depression
- PROMIS Pain Interference
- PROMIS-CAT (only accepting summary scores)
Interested in viewing the Data Specifications or Data Dictionary for SER? These documents are proprietary and can be accessed in the Tools & Resources tab on AAOS RegistryInsights®. For more information, please contact AAOS Registry Program staff at RegistryInfo@aaos.org.
SER Data Submission
After SER participating sites collect the necessary data elements, they submit their data through the AAOS RegistryInsights® data upload process via a secure file transfer protocol (SFTP) or hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS).
A few data submission best practices include:
- Submitting data monthly
- Consulting with your site’s IT team to set up automated reports
- Monitoring data submission uploads and addressing errors
- Utilizing an AAOS Registry Program Authorized Vendor to facilitate the data submission process
For more information about SER data submission, click here.
Read about the data submitted to the SER in the SER Annual Report.
SER Participation Benefits
Participating in SER allows a site or surgeon to demonstrate their commitment to quality. The SER provides access to sitewide, systemwide, and nationwide data. Reuse of Registry data has value to certifying bodies, quality reporting, device surveillance, reimbursement, and quality measurement efforts.
A few top benefits of SER participation include:
- Access to national benchmarks
- Standard reports and personalized dashboards for procedural, post-operative, and PROMs data
- Surgeon dashboards that can help attain up to 10 Self-Assessment Exam credits for the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons Maintenance of Certification program
Learn more about SER participation benefits here.
Learn more about the quality initiatives that SER can help meet here.
SER Supporters
View information about SER's supporters here.
SER Leadership
The SER Steering Committee is comprised of stakeholders from various specialty societies that are all vested in improving orthopaedic care. The SER Steering Committee members and the organizations they represent include:
- Gerald R. Williams Jr., MD, FAAOS, Chair
AAOS Representative - Oke A. Anakwenze, MD, MBA, FAAOS, Member
AAOS Representative - Mark E. Baratz, MD, FAAOS, Member
American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) Representative - Stephen F. Brockmeier, MD, FAAOS, Member
American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) Representative - Grant E. Garrigues, MD, FAAOS, Member
American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) Representative - Carolyn M. Hettrich, MD, MPH, FAAOS, Member
AAOS Representative - John E. Kuhn, MD, FAAOS, Member
AAOS Representative - Ronald A. Navarro, MD, FAAOS, Member
AAOS Representative - Joaquin Sanchez-Sotelo, MD, Member
AAOS Representative - Richard F. Seiden, Esq., Member
AAOS Registry Program Public Advisory Board (PAB) Representative - Patrick St. Pierre, MD, Member
Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA) Representative - Samuel A. Taylor, MD, FAAOS
AAOS Representative - Stephen C. Weber, MD, FAAOS, Member
AAOS Representative
Enrolling in the SER is Easy
Your site can join the SER in 5 simple steps. Learn about the enrollment process here or watch the short video below of Gerald R. Williams Jr., MD, FAAOS, SER Steering Committee Chair, as he walks through the process of how surgeons can get involved in the SER and become champions for their site's participation.
Visit the AAOS Registry Program FAQs page for more details about Registry Program participation. If you have additional questions about joining the SER, please email RegistryEngagement@aaos.org or call (847) 292-0530.