The latest NOA guest blog post by Rebecca Lafferty, national PROMS network co-ordinator and outcomes manager (Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) looks at outcomes data collection in orthopaedics and outlines her personal experience of outcomes pathways and processes.
Outcomes data collection can mean different things to different people. It depends on the provider and how the data collection process is set up. In some units, the data collected contributes to a bigger picture through national data sets such as the National Joint Registry, National Ligament Registry and Non-Arthroplasty Hip Registry. In other cases, one or two consultants who are particularly interested in a sub group of patients collect data on a smaller scale. It’s a growing area of interest and there are many projects looking at operation or intervention recording and patients’ pre and post op scores to assess their outcome.