Asernip‐s: International Trend Setting

Abstract

The Australian Safety and Efficacy Register of New Interventional Procedures--Surgical (ASERNIP-S) came into being 10 years ago to provide health technology assessments specifically tailored towards new surgical techniques and technologies. It was and remains the only organisation in the world to focus on this area of research. Most funding has been provided by the Australian Government Department of Health, and assessments have helped inform the introduction of new surgical techniques into Australia. ASERNIP-S is a project of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. The ASERNIP-S program employs a diverse range of methods including systematic reviews, technology overviews, assessments of new and emerging surgical technologies identified by horizon scanning, and audit. Support and guidance for the program is provided by Fellows of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. ASERNIP-S works closely with consumers to produce health technology assessments and audits, as well as consumer information to keep patients fully informed of research. Since its inception, the ASERNIP-S program has developed a strong international profile through the production of over 60 reports on evidence-based surgery, surgical technologies and audit. The work undertaken by ASERNIP-S has evolved from assessments of the safety and efficacy of procedures to include guidance on policies and surgical training programs. ASERNIP-S needs to secure funding so that it can continue to play an integral role in the improvement of quality of care both in Australia and internationally.

Challenges in evaluating surgical innovation

“…There are no regulatory procedures for licensing surgical treatments on the basis of high-quality evidence. However, this type of evaluation through assessment bodies has begun to appear in some developed countries 72,73. Unlike pharmacological evaluations, industry funding is limited and financing of research by health-care funding agencies is greatly needed.…”

Innovations in coloproctology

“…In Australia, Professor Guy Maddern's passionate introduction of the Australian Safety and Efficacy Register of New Interventional Procedures-Surgical (ASERNIP-S) section of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons has been a case in point; [8] designed to monitor and regulate the introduction and accrediting of new surgical techniques into old working places as it were. I would propose that our A. P. Zbar (&) The Universities of New England and Newcastle, Tamworth, NSW, Australia e-mail: apzbar@yahoo.com societies unite to establish an international regulatory body designed to specifically oversee and sanction trialling in order to ascertain the value of these innovations in an effort to combat substandard data informing practice; a result compounded rather than clandestinely generated by our industry associations.…”

Introduction of new surgical techniques and technologies

“…6 Surgery was initially slow to accept this premise, but through the ASERNIP-S initiative, RACS has become a world leader in the assessment of new surgical devices and procedures. 6 Surgery was initially slow to accept this premise, but through the ASERNIP-S initiative, RACS has become a world leader in the assessment of new surgical devices and procedures.…”

“…Well before this initiative came to be appreciated by the surgical community, and following the chaotic introduction of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS), in association with the Federal Government, initiated the Australian Safety and Efficacy Register of New Interventional Procedures-Surgical (ASERNIP-S) to provide a mechanism through which hospitals, surgeons, patients and the government could be informed of the evidence associated with new technologies being developed and introduced into surgical practice. 6 Surgery was initially slow to accept this premise, but through the ASERNIP-S initiative, RACS has become a world leader in the assessment of new surgical devices and procedures. This has been coupled with the ability to establish independent registries to oversee surgical procedures and help provide contemporary data on longer-term outcomes that are difficult to obtain in small randomized controlled trials, which often provide the early basis on which an intervention is introduced.…”