Orthopedics Today speaks with experts including Alexander S. McLawhorn, MD, MBA, hip and knee surgeon at HSS on the use of registry data in orthopedics.

Orthopedic registry studies have long served as instrumental tools for guidinding the quality of patient care. 

The utilization of registries provides clinicians and researchers a unique opportunity to leverage data to influence care-related decisions in a way that ultimately improves the quality of patient care. 

Limitations in registry studies do exists, which magnifies the importance that clinicians and researchers target specific questions and understand the clinical relevance of their findings. 

“We know as practicing surgeons that individual patients exhibit significant variability that may not be captured or reflected in registry data. Even in a registry collects robust demographic, comorbidity and condition specific data, the way in which registry data are publicly accessible tends to represent averages or aggregates. This lack of granularity can lead to generalizations that overlook unique patient characteristics that might impact patient outcomes with a specific treatment or implant,” explained Dr. McLawhorn.

Read the full article at healio.com.