ASDSA believes patient safety should be put first and foremost.
In conjunction with Northwestern University, we have launched the Cutaneous Adverse Procedure Event Reporting (CAPER) Registry. CAPER is a registry overseen by a group of board certified dermatologists, clinicians, and researchers with more than 20 years of experience in patient care and physician advocacy who are committed to improving safety outcomes and expanding access to timely data.
The CAPER registry encourages ASDSA members who treat patients who have experienced complications from medical procedures performed by non-physicians to bring that information to ASDSA’s attention. The collaboration between Northwestern University and ASDSA will ensure that CAPER becomes the common place for dermatologic surgeons and their staff to report adverse events from devices, drugs, or biologics.
ASDSA is a trusted resource to both state and federal policymakers, and in order to drive successful legislation, reliable data is key. ASDSA established the Medical Spa Safety Coalition to enhance safety measures for patients undergoing cosmetic medical procedures at medical spas. The coalition's main objective is to advance the "Medical Spa Safety Act" model legislation and bring attention to the regulatory deficiencies in the medical spa industry and the potential risks it poses to patients.
CAPER plays a critical role in advancing ASDSA's public policy agenda by supplying robust evidence to support the organization's stance on physician oversight in medical spas. The wide availability of de-identified data collected from across the country in CAPER could lead to the identification of patterns of adverse incidents, greatly increasing patient safety as legislation is written into effect for their protection.