The most effective method for improving the metrics of modern reconstructive Orthopaedic Surgery is simply the avoidance of complications. Healthy patients have fewer complications than those with unstable medical co-morbidities. The goal of the AAOS Risk Reduction Toolkit is to help Orthopaedic Surgeons develop a reproducible clinical pathway in their home institutions to get patients ready for surgery. The toolkit outlines those risk factors that can be optimized prior to elective surgery, thus decreasing the risk exposure of our patients. It also provides a framework to allow establishment of a clinical pathway prior to surgery that will greatly reduce the probability of sustaining a complication that would lead to a poor outcome. These principles will allow us to provide complex life-improving technology for patients previously considered at too great a risk to undergo elective reconstructive Orthopaedic Surgery.