Developing a national quality registry for hand surgery: challenges and opportunities

The Scandinavian National Healthcare Quality Registries (NQRs) have brought about considerable improvements since their introduction in the 1970s.One such registry - HAKIR ('hand surgery') - was established in 2010 and was likely the first NQR for hand surgery.Patient-reported outcome and reoperations due to post-operative complications are registered in HAKIR, as well as hand function in selected groups of surgical procedures.Creating simple logistics for collecting data and careful planning are important factors when establishing a new NQR.Continuous surveillance of data validity and coverage are crucial for success.With perseverance, large databases for clinical research can be created, along with the establishment of national multi-professional collaboration in healthcare improvement work. Cite this article: Arner, M. Developing a national quality registry for hand surgery: challenges and opportunities. EFORT Open Rev 2016;1:100-106. DOI: 10.1302/2058-5241.1.000045.