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Linking a Total Ankle Arthroplasty Registry to Medicare Inpatient Claims without Unique Identifiers.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Raman, SR; Hammill, BG; Queen, RM; Adams, SB; Curtis, LH
Published in: J Bone Joint Surg Am
June 20, 2018

BACKGROUND: Linking clinical registries to administrative claims data enables researchers to capitalize on the specific strengths of each data source with respect to the depth, breadth, and completeness of information. The objectives of this study were to link a health-system-based orthopaedic surgery registry to U.S. Medicare claims data without the use of unique identifiers and to assess the representativeness of the linked records. METHODS: The registry included clinical data for patients ≥65 years of age who underwent elective, inpatient total ankle arthroplasty (TAA) in a single health system during the period of 2007 through 2012. Registry participants were identified within the Medicare data by linking registry procedures to TAA procedures within the claims data using a combination of procedure date, patient date of birth, and patient sex. We assessed the representativeness of the linked records by comparing them to both unlinked registry records and unlinked Medicare records for TAA procedures. Additionally, we described the availability of postsurgical data for linked records. RESULTS: Of 360 TAA registry participants ≥65 years of age, 280 (77.8%) were matched to a Medicare record; 250 (89.3%) of those 280 participants were matched on the basis of a linking rule that required an exact match for procedure date, date of birth, and sex. The 280 linked records comprised 5.5% of all Medicare TAA procedures among beneficiaries ≥65 years of age enrolled in the fee-for-service Medicare program (n = 5,070). Compared with linked records, unlinked records were more likely to be for patients 65 to 69 years old, but the 2 groups were similar in terms of sex, body mass index, and availability of clinical measurements. Of the linked records, 214 (76.4%) had ≥3 years of postoperative follow-up claims data. CONCLUSIONS: Linkage without unique patient identifiers between an orthopaedic registry and Medicare claims data is feasible, allows for assessment of representativeness, and creates a unique resource of longitudinal data for research.

Duke Scholars

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Published In

J Bone Joint Surg Am

DOI

EISSN

1535-1386

Publication Date

June 20, 2018

Volume

100

Issue

12

Start / End Page

1016 / 1022

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • United States
  • Registries
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care
  • Orthopedics
  • Medicare
  • Medical Records Systems, Computerized
  • Medical Record Linkage
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Raman, S. R., Hammill, B. G., Queen, R. M., Adams, S. B., & Curtis, L. H. (2018). Linking a Total Ankle Arthroplasty Registry to Medicare Inpatient Claims without Unique Identifiers. J Bone Joint Surg Am, 100(12), 1016–1022. https://doi.org/10.2106/JBJS.17.00460
Raman, Sudha R., Bradley G. Hammill, Robin M. Queen, Samuel B. Adams, and Lesley H. Curtis. “Linking a Total Ankle Arthroplasty Registry to Medicare Inpatient Claims without Unique Identifiers.J Bone Joint Surg Am 100, no. 12 (June 20, 2018): 1016–22. https://doi.org/10.2106/JBJS.17.00460.
Raman SR, Hammill BG, Queen RM, Adams SB, Curtis LH. Linking a Total Ankle Arthroplasty Registry to Medicare Inpatient Claims without Unique Identifiers. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2018 Jun 20;100(12):1016–22.
Raman, Sudha R., et al. “Linking a Total Ankle Arthroplasty Registry to Medicare Inpatient Claims without Unique Identifiers.J Bone Joint Surg Am, vol. 100, no. 12, June 2018, pp. 1016–22. Pubmed, doi:10.2106/JBJS.17.00460.
Raman SR, Hammill BG, Queen RM, Adams SB, Curtis LH. Linking a Total Ankle Arthroplasty Registry to Medicare Inpatient Claims without Unique Identifiers. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2018 Jun 20;100(12):1016–1022.

Published In

J Bone Joint Surg Am

DOI

EISSN

1535-1386

Publication Date

June 20, 2018

Volume

100

Issue

12

Start / End Page

1016 / 1022

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • United States
  • Registries
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care
  • Orthopedics
  • Medicare
  • Medical Records Systems, Computerized
  • Medical Record Linkage
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female