Australian Spine Registry (ASR)

Registry custodian: Associate Professor Susannah Ahern
Email: susannah.ahern@monash.edu
Phone: +61 3 9903 0139
Registry coordinator: Dr Esther Apos
Email: esther.apos@monash.edu
Phone: +61 3 9903 0782 / 0419 632 587
Registry contact:spineregistryAU@monash.edu
Clinical lead: Mr Michael Johnson, Orthopaedic Spine Surgeon
Purpose / aims: The ultimate aim of the Australian Spine Registry (ASR) is to optimise quality of care for spine surgery patients, which will be achieved by:
  • Identifying variability in treatment amongst individuals undergoing spine surgery and studying its causes and consequences
  • Providing a tool for individual surgeons to complete audits of their spine surgery including the ability to benchmark themselves against their peers for common procedures
  • Determining the degree of compliance (and reasons for non-compliance) with evidence-based guidelines for spine surgery
  • Identifying factors that predict favourable and unfavourable surgical outcome
  • Monitoring trends in surgical approach, choice and safety of implantable devices and outcomes for spine surgery
  • Providing an infrastructure on which intervention or other studies can be established
  • Determining the results and functional effectiveness of specific spine surgeries in a 'real world' setting
Population captured: All patients over 18 years of age undergoing elective spine surgery. Currently the registry is in a pilot stage and involves public and private health service sites in Victoria (VIC), New South Wales (NSW) and Western Australia (WA).
Outcomes collected: The ASR collects information relating to diagnosis, treatment, and Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs), with additional data items collected for risk adjustment. Clinical indicators are in development.
Funding source: The Spine Society of Australia, BUPA, and the following medical device companies: DePuy Synthes (Johnson & Johnson), LifeHealthcare, Medtronic, NuVasive, Stryker, Zimmer
Website:spineregistry.org.au