Milestone Moments

1921: The Research Fund was established, using $27,000 endowed by Liberty Bonds purchased during WWI. 

1985: The Centralized Otolaryngology Research Efforts (CORE) program was established.  

2006: The development of quality knowledge products was led by the efforts of David R. Nielsen, MD, EVP/CEO, and Richard M. Rosenfeld, MD, MPH, MBA, Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Editor in Chief. 

2006: The first set of measures on topics of Acute Otitis Externa and Otitis Media with Effusion was developed.

2006: Clinical Practice Guidelines: A Manual for Developing Evidence-Based Guidelines to Facilitate Performance Measurement and Quality Improvement was published. 

2015: Clinical Consensus Statement (CCS) Development Manual was published. (The name change from CCSs to Expert Consensus Statements was approved in 2020.)

2015: The development of Reg-ent, a clinical data registry for otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, was approved. 

2016:  Reg-ent pilot was tested and launched, approved as a Qualified Clinical Data Registry and Qualified Registry by CMS and reported PQRS for 2016.

2016: Qualified Clinical Data Registry Measures Development began (To date, AAO-HNSF has developed 22 specialty-specific measures).

2017: Reg-ent launched Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) reporting for its practices across all three categories: Quality, Improvement Activities, and Promoting Interoperability.  

2020: Reg-ent began Phase II to serve as the basis for otolaryngology clinical research, to address product surveillance, and to provide a platform for internal and external research endeavors.

2021: Reg-ent launched the first Patient Reported Survey in Age-Related Hearing Loss.