A system has been implemented that enables collection of pre- and postoperative data for patients with nasal obstruction who undergo functional septorhinoplasty, according to a special communication published online Sept. 14 in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery.
C. Alessandra Colaianni, M.D., from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues assessed a systematic method for gathering preoperative and postoperative data on patients with nasal obstruction who undergo functional septorhinoplasty. The database was started in July 2013 and patients continue to be enrolled. The process included a systematic method for the initial visit evaluation, collection of outcome measures reported by patients, documentation of surgical management, and patient follow-up. The method was integrated into a RedCap survey database and the institution’s electronic health record system for consistency and ease of data collection and interpretation.
The researchers note that outcomes data have been collected on more than 1,000 patients at seven time points during the four years that this process has been in place, creating an institutional database. The system enables tracking of data on patient outcomes and mining of institutional data for research.
“As Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services moves from a volume-driven health care model to a value-driven health care model, demonstration of measurable outcomes in patients undergoing elective surgery will be of paramount importance,” the authors write.
