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AAOMS Outcomes Assessment Project

As part of its Outcomes Assessment Project, The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) has established a national data repository to track national trends, risk adjusted outcomes of care, and associations between these outcomes and alternative processes of care. This database will allow AAOMS members to collect case mix, content of care, and outcomes data concerning their individual practices and to compare their performance to that of their peers.

The data collection methodology was set up to allow for data to be collected prospectively. Members who participate in the AAOMS studies submit demographic, clinical, follow-up, and patient satisfaction data to the AAOMS national data repository for their patients. All data collected for this study is confidential.

The studies are designed for minimal disruption to your practice. Data entry should take just 3-5 minutes per patient. Data collection for these studies is done through a web-based program created by Outcome Sciences for AAOMS. A password-protected website that may be accessed from any computer with Internet access is used by participating AAOMS members. For additional convenience, it is possible to download data forms to a Palm Pilot or other handheld device. Data entry training is available for you and your staff.

The Office Anesthesia Study is one module of this national data repository. The purpose of this study was to measure safety and effectiveness of and patient satisfaction with anesthesia administered in the office-setting by the OMS anesthesia team. In 2001, information from over 34,000 patient records was collected as part of the study. The Age Related Third Molar study was another module of this national data repository. The purpose of the study was to identify complications that occur in patients who undergo third molar extraction after age 25. In 2001, over 4600 patient records were examined.

Initial results of the Office Anesthesia and Age Related Third Molar studies were presented at the Symposium on AAOMS Outcomes Research on Third Molar and Anesthesia which was held at the 2002 AAOMS annual meeting in Chicago. Results from the anesthesia study were published in the September 2003 issue of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. The article, Office-Based Ambulatory Anesthesia: Outcomes of Clinical Practice of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons is a detailed analysis and overview of the study data.

Due to the importance of anesthesia in oral and maxillofacial surgery practice and the initial success of the study, registration for the Office Anesthesia module is continuing. All interested AAOMS members are urged to participate in this important study. AAOMS members who participated in 2001 are urged to continue their participation in the study.

The AAOMS Orthognathic Surgery Study is the newest module of this national data repository. The purpose of this study is to determine the Orthognathic surgery-related complication rates associated with different types of procedures and evaluate the association between these procedures used and the patient's postoperative views regarding their surgical experience. AAOMS members who perform orthognathic surgery should register to participate in the Orthognathic Surgery Study.

Recently, the AAOMS formed a partnership with Outcome Sciences, Inc., a leader in conducting online clinical research and data collection. The result of this partnership is the formation of OMSLink. OMSLink combines a state of the art web-based data collection infrastructure with the world's largest network of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. OMSLink will facilitate the data collection efforts needed for conducting high quality clinical research. OMSLink services are focused on three areas of data collection: clinical trials (including recruiting investigators and managing data), observational studies such as registries, and opinion research. While the OMSLink database will be composed of AAOMS members, there will also be opportunities to link with other investigative centers and organizations to develop future collaborative projects.

We urge all interested AAOMS members to register with OMSLink and/or participate in the Office Anesthesia and the Orthognathic Surgery studies. If you have questions regarding the Outcomes Assessment Project, please contact Martin Gonzalez, Research Associate at 800/822-6637.