Americas Hernia Society Quality Collaborative Foundation

Program #1-operation of data registry: the data registry is ahsqc's principal activity as it provides real-world data upon which all of ahsqc's Collaborative activities are based. Accomplishments from 01/01 - 06/30/2020 include the number of Hernia cases collected in the ahsqc patient registry increasing from approximately 58,700 to 65,300 cases and the number of surgeons contributing data to the registry increased from 405 to 428. Ahsqc continued its patient outreach program to collect long term patient reported outcomes, significantly increasing the percentage of registry patients having reported long term outcomes. As a result of this work, and subject to funding, ahsqc has devised protocols that can capture long term patient reported outcomes as high as 80%, a 60% increase over prior reported outcomes.

Program #3-provide industry reports: ahsqc Foundation provides Hernia device makers with access to data from the patient data registry in the following report formats (collectively, industry reports): (i) benchmark comparison reports that summarize all collaborative-wide data in the data registry (e.g., volume of surgeries sorted by wound class, mesh type, or mesh location) (global reports); (ii) benchmark comparison reports that compare the Quality and outcomes of a particular device against all similar devices on an aggregated, de-identified basis (company specific reports); and (iii) benchmark comparison reports that address specific product or Quality improvement questions of interest to the device maker (custom reports)-these reports are of increasing interest to device makers for their regulatory interactions with the fda and other medical device regulatory bodies. The global reports are not unique to any industry user, while the company specific reports and custom reports are unique to a particular user. The global reports and the company specific reports are generated using a template developed by ahsqc Foundation, and will require little selection services, while the custom reports will be generated on a more individualized basis and require more selection services. Custom reports are similar to the reports provided to participating surgeons and certain academic researchers without charge to support their research and publication efforts. Ahsqc Foundation generates the industry reports using the same methodology and services that have been established for the collaborative-wide benchmark comparison reports that it generates for other Collaborative activities. The industry reports use the same identical de-identified database that is available to all other data users, and present the data in a manner substantially similar to other collaborative-wide reports that are available to all other data users (e.g., use of a subset of clinical data by a surgeon or researcher). Other data users, and present the data in a manner substantially similar to other collaborative-wide reports that are available to all other data users (e.g., use of a subset of clinical data by a surgeon or researcher).

Program #2-education, Quality improvement, and support of scientific research: education, training and outreach--ahsqc Foundation: (a) teaches and mentors participating surgeons on how to incorporate the data and analytics available through the ahsqc patient data registry into their clinical decisions to improve the Quality and lower the cost of care delivered to patient; (b) hosts live and virtual scientific meetings and learning sessions throughout the year; and (c) analyzes and presents reports on the data collected through the data registry at educational conferences hosted by various medical organizations. Quality improvement and research support--ahsqc Foundation: (a) develops and presents real-world data for the development and implementation of hernia-related standards, best practices, and specific Quality improvement projects based on the data collected through the data registry: (b) provides data and analytic services to researchers assessing clinical outcomes aligned with its mission at no fee, in order to support their Quality improvement, research, and publication efforts (to date ahsqc Foundation has provided data and analysis to researchers and authors that has led to the publication of over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, which are available through ahsqc's web-site); and (c) works with governmental agencies to facilitate their using the data collected through the patient data registry to support their health care initiatives and regulatory effort.