IRIS Registry, ophthalmology’s moon shot?

New Orleans-In New Orleans, the theme song “The Saints Go Marching In,” sings the famous line, “I want to be in that Number.” The American Academy of Ophthalmology is hoping that thousands of its members will want to be in that number too-the Intelligent Research in Sight (IRIS) Registry.

It is hoped that the IRIS Registry will be many things to thousands of ophthalmologists, if not all.

The academy is promoting the registry as a way to improve performance and measure outcomes. It’s a centralized collection and reporting software tool that compiles and processes data from electronic health records (EHR) to enable ophthalmologists to statistically analyze their own care, compare it with that of their peers, and pinpoint opportunities for improvement.

IRIS will meet requirements and streamline reports for the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) by automatically extracting the required data and sending it to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and could help revolutionize and fuel scientific discovery.

In the future, the academy hopes IRIS will be used to expedite certification, post-market surveillance studies, early detection of safety signals, and determining changes in practice patterns.

Academy President Paul Sternberg Jr., MD, said the IRIS points a way toward the ability to “review and test new treatment models, with a consensus end point in clinical, financial, and quality-of-life measures.”

“Our ability to do this in real time means we can adapt quickly, capitalize on innovation, and maximize our outcomes,” he said.

A different point of view highlighted the profession’s sometimes uneasy relationship with regulatory agencies and insurance organizations.

David W. Parke II, MD, the academy’s chief executive officer, said that one of the drivers for the registry is that it be created and managed to fit the academy’s member’s needs, not solely for regulatory and insurance organizations.

“The only data that’s out there right now is their data, and that’s a black box,” Dr. Parke said.

In a quantifiable way, he said, IRIS will demonstrate to everyone-patients, the ophthalmologic community, regulatory agencies-that better care is being provided.

IRIS will be formally rolled out in the next 3 or 4 months.

The academy has not yet announced a pricing structure for participation, but the first 2,000 to enroll will receive complimentary access for 2 years.   

This will be the United States’ first comprehensive eye disease and condition patient database, however, there is one for other subspecialties, including cardiology.

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