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

Area of Science:

• Healthcare quality improvement
• Surgical outcomes research
• Health informatics

Background:

• National healthcare quality registries (NQRs) in Scandinavia have improved healthcare since the 1970s.
• The Hand Surgery Quality Registry (HAKIR) was established in 2010, likely the first NQR for hand surgery.
• HAKIR collects patient-reported outcomes, reoperations, and hand function data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the establishment of a national quality registry for hand surgery.
• To highlight the challenges and opportunities in developing such a registry.
• To emphasize the importance of data collection and validation for clinical research.

Main Methods:

• Development of simple data collection logistics.
• Careful planning for registry establishment.
• Continuous surveillance of data validity and coverage.

Main Results:

• Successful creation of a national quality registry for hand surgery (HAKIR).
• Demonstrated feasibility of collecting patient-reported outcomes and reoperation data.
• Enabled the establishment of national multi-professional collaboration.

Conclusions:

• Establishing a new NQR necessitates robust logistics and planning.
• Ongoing data validation and coverage monitoring are critical for registry success.
• National quality registries foster clinical research and collaborative healthcare improvement.