Legacy of Excellence Digital Flipbook

LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE

A key mission of a national medical society such as the AAO-HNSF is to act as an ‘honest broker’ working with the various parties interested in research and the advancement of medicine. Your Foundation’s engagement in this process has been substantial.”

– Harold C. Pillsbury III, MD, 1998-1999 President, December 1998 Bulletin

RESEARCH AND QUALITY

the general public are demanding ‘proof’ that the treatment strategies we use are effective. When data are not available to answer their questions, agencies frequently produce their own data that may be seriously flawed. The AAO-HNS/F is committed to providing the necessary infrastructure to allow our members to participate actively in clinical outcomes studies that will provide important data.” Testing of the software began in the summer 1997 and was on display at the 1997 Annual Meeting. Attendees had the opportunity to learn more about the clinical outcomes program and the purposes it could serve their practice and patient care, which included assessing and comparing patient outcomes, accessing doctor specific data on patients, and evaluating the efficacy of treatment strategies that were utilized to provide accurate data in support of those treatment methods to government agencies, managed care plans, or others who questioned them. Dr. De la Cruz furthered the crucial role this data would play in patient care in the September 1998 Bulletin , “As the Academy sought to assert itself in defining how healthcare is delivered, it also expanded its clinical research programs. New initiatives, such as COG*ENT seek to establish an outcomes data base to assist you in your daily practice. Our efforts will continue to grow, assisted by growing relationships with our corporate sponsors.”

Edwin M. Monsell, MD, PhD, AAO-HNSF Coordinator for Research, 1996-2002

COG*ENT (Cooperative Outcomes Group for ENT) The Cooperative Outcomes Group for ENT (COG*ENT), the AAO-HNSF clinical outcomes project, was initiated in 1997 to assess clinical outcomes of otolaryngological

care of patients with two diseases, otitis media and rhinosinusitis. The goal of COG*ENT was to produce an assessment tool with many potential applications. Through a series of patient and physician questionnaires linked to a specially designed software system, patient clinical and outcomes data were entered in the system and electronically transferred

to a central data registry. Reports from registry data illustrated to individual otolaryngologists their own performance and the characteristics of the patients compared to aggregated national data. The registry also served as a data repository for various policy or outcomes analyses. In sharing the rationale for the need for COG*ENT, Dr. Krause said in the July 1997 Bulletin , “Increasingly, government agencies, managed care companies, and

COG*ENT officially launched in September 1998

I have always believed that the benefit of a professional medical society is that no other organization has more of a vested interest ensuring that you are able to practice the highest quality medicine. The development of clinical indicators is a milestone in the Academy’s history.” –Antonio De la Cruz, MD, 1997-1998 President, June 1998 Bulletin

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