Here are examples of the data points that should be collected to analyse the effectiveness of an axial SpA service in diagnosing the condition. These should be collected in addition to the National Early Inflammatory Arthritis Audit and the NASS Time to Diagnosis patient survey.
Key metric – all patients referred for assessment | Suggested data collection source |
Number of new ?axSpA referrals per unit of time
|
Business intelligence unit |
Capacity for reviewing new ?axSpA referrals per unit time (and per professional group)
|
Business intelligence unit |
Time delay from new referral to 1st appointment
|
Business intelligence unit |
Proportion of these referrals diagnosed with axSpA at 1st appointment (can divide by definite/probable/possible/not) | Business intelligence unit +/- patient records review, cross-checked with diagnosed patients entered into NEIAA+/- NASS D2D audit |
Proportion of new patients offered a follow-up appointment v discharge
|
Business intelligence unit |
Proportion requiring advanced investigations (ie dedicated axSpA protocol MRI)
|
Business intelligence unit +/- patient records |
Delay from request to MRI report (plus check with local MSK radiologist if needed)
|
Patient records |
Proportion of MRIs requested being supportive of axSpA diagnosis (can group others by negative, indeterminate, alternative diagnosis found)
|
Patient records |
Proportion of new ?axSpA referrals who fulfil NICE (+/- ASAS) spondyloarthritis referral criteria
|
Patient records |