INOR How it works

Every NOCA audit is grounded in standards, partnerships and good governance. INOR is a secure, web-based, live system, used to record and monitor elective joint replacement (arthroplasty) surgery. It features real-time barcode scanning of implants in theatre — an international first for arthroplasty registers. The data collected will be analysed and used to create a National Clinical Audit report, while the INOR system will produce standard reports for distribution to hospitals.

Unlike other International Arthroplasty Registers (that collate data after surgery), INOR data collection is real-time — entered electronically at the point of care by patients, nurses and doctors into a bespoke, secure web application. Implants used during surgery are scanned into the system by nurses using barcodes, while the patient is undergoing the procedure.

Using barcodes is crucial, as it enables NOCA to help hospitals accurately and speedily identify patients in the event of a component recall. The scanning functionality (custom built by our development partners OpenApp during the product build phase) supports linear, proprietary and 2d scanning formats, as well as the capture of parts with no barcode. The system is also built to support the GS1 scanning standards.

A standardised electronic post-operative note is produced by the system; this was created in collaboration with the Lower Limb Arthroplasty Committee of the Irish Institute for Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery (IITOS) and improves the quality of the data available to support patient care.