More than a million hip and knee replacements are performed each year in the US, but most people don’t know the make, model or serial number of their implanted device. The Unique Device Identification (UDI) system established and implemented by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will make it possible to identify medical devices, including artificial hips and knees, by assigning labels with unique numbers to them. The UDI system is important to patients for a number of reasons: it helps healthcare providers distinguish between two products that look the same but serve different purposes and it facilitates efficient recall in the case of defective device or adverse reaction. In short, unique device identifiers will assist in better overall surveillance of device safety and effectiveness.
Guest Speaker: Terrie L. Reed, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH)
Terrie Reed, Senior Advisor to the FDA for Unique Device Identifier (UDI) Adoption, presented the latest UDI system information from the FDA, and how patients can support efforts to improve device tracking and safety. Ms. Reed, MS Industrial Engineering, has spent her career advocating for the development and use of data standards in healthcare and government systems to improve public health and patient safety. Terrie Reed was joined by CreakyJoints patients and staff for a one-hour webinar to discuss this important topic. The presentation concludes with a Q&A session.
