Initial Certification applicants must submit a patient list of surgery of the hand managed during a consecutive 12-month period within the two years preceding application. Surgery of the hand includes only those procedures performed on the upper extremity distal to the elbow. The case list must include at least 125 cases fulfilling at least five of the following categories. If the applicant cannot reach the 125 case minimum within the 12-month period, the applicant can extend that collection period up to 15 months to reach 125 cases. The number in the right-hand column indicate the minimum number of cases to qualify a candidate as one of the required five categories.
* Non-operative cases are those which require significant evaluation, such as pain problems. No more than six non-operative cases will be accepted. There is a list of acceptable CPT codes for the Surgery of the Hand Subspecialty Case List available here.
Additional information can be found in the Rules and Procedures.
Creating a Scribe Case List
Accessing Your Case List
- Log into the ABOS website
- Click on the Hand tab
- Click the Scribe link or the Enter Cases button.
This will bring you to the Scribe home where you can begin your case list. The number of total, complete and incomplete cases will always appear first with a list of incomplete cases underneath.
Entering a New Case
- Clicking the Add Case tab will go to a blank case list form where a new case is created and added.
- Enter patient information in all fields; if all fields are not complete the case will show up in the incomplete case until all fields are complete.
- Enter Patient Initials: Do not enter in full name of patient
- Enter Patient ID: Use the same patient ID as the hospital’s medical record ID for all procedures. Do not use full social security numbers to protect patient confidentiality.
- Enter Patient’s Age: Patient’s age at time of procedure in years.
- Select Patient Gender.
- Enter Date of Surgery/Treatment: Multiple procedures on the same patient and on the same date should be entered as one case.
- Enter Diagnosis (ICD-9 or ICD-10) Code: Only one code is required.
- Enter Treatment (CPT) Code: Only one code is required.
- Enter Description of Operation: In 100 characters or less, list the procedures performed in the surgery.
Reset: Clear all fields with data entered and start all over
Delete Case: Removes this case from the list
Save Case: Case will be listed in incomplete case list and missing information can be entered at a later time
Complete Case: All information is entered for this case
Incomplete Cases
Incomplete cases always appear on the Scribe home page.
Cases can be completed by clicking on the Scribe Case # of the particular case.
All cases must be complete before list can be finalized.
Editing a Completed Case by Hospital
- Click the Edit Case tab.
- Select the hospital at which the case was performed.
- A list of all cases for that hospital will be displayed
- Case list can be ordered by Scribe Case #, Patient ID or Date of Surgery, just click the corresponding header at the top of the case list
- Click on a Scribe Case # to go into a case and edit it
A case to be edited can also be found by searching as described below
Searching For a Case
On any page in the Scribe case list, cases can be searched by Patient ID, Hospital Name, and Surgery Date
A list of all cases matching the search criteria entered will be displayed
These cases can be viewed and/or edited by clicking the Scribe Case #
Print Case Lists
Print a case list for each hospital and review entered information prior to finalization. Statistics on all cases with complication reported will appear at the bottom of each case list. Please keep a copy of this list in your records if you plan on applying to the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.
- Select the Print Cases tab.
- Click Print Case List
- Click the hospital whose case list you want printed.
Case lists will open in Adobe Acrobat Reader which you need installed on your computer in order to view the case list.
Finalization
Once all information has been entered and verified to be correct, the case list can be finalized. Case lists with incomplete cases cannot be finalized. After finalization the case list is locked and no changes can be made. If an error is found after finalization, please call the ABOS.
Click the Finalize List tab and then click on Finalize list to finalize.
Help/Technical Support
Click the help tab to enter a trouble ticket or contact technical support.
