Working on the Strategic Plan

Peter J. O'Brien, M.D., FRCSC
President, Canadian Orthopaedic Association

It has been an absolute pleasure representing the Canadian Orthopaedic Association internationally over the past few months. Connie and I attended the South African, British, Australian and New Zealand orthopaedic associations' annual meetings. At each of these meetings, I met with the other Carousel Presidents to discuss issues that are common to each association.

This year, one of the main areas of interest in these discussions has been the importance of national joint replacement registries. Currently, Canada is falling behind Britain, Australia and New Zealand in regard to our national registry. Each of those countries is reporting a 95 to 100% capture rate for hip and knee replacement. The most recent Canadian Joint Replacement Registry (CJRR) report indicated that only 47% of hip and knee arthroplasties performed in Canada were documented in the CJRR. The poor rate of data capture prevents the CJRR from effectively providing us with survivorship analysis for implants. The challenge we have is to bring the rate of reporting up to 100%. Obviously, the current system requires significant change. As one of the main themes of the COA's strategic plan this year is outcomes driven research, the Association will work with the CJRR advisory committee to change data collection so that all arthroplasties done in Canada will be reported. I have made arrangements to meet with federal officials to discuss strategies to change our current system.

Advocacy initiatives continue to be a focus of the Association. The COA is trying to strengthen its relationships with the provincial orthopaedic associations. We are currently working with the Ontario Orthopaedic Association on a combined advocacy project about foot and ankle surgery and the relationship of our specialty to the increasing role of podiatrists in foot and ankle care.

Modeling of orthopaedic care has been shown to be successful for hip and knee replacement. Many centres that have developed models of care have shown that wait times are reduced, the cost of care per case is less and that quality (as measured by patient satisfaction) has been maintained or improved. Bone and Joint Canada is working on consolidating the models and developing a Toolkit of best practice guidelines. Models of care for other orthopaedic subspecialties need to be developed and we plan to start by assisting the Canadian Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (COFAS) with models of care for foot and ankle surgery.

I‘m sure that many of you were disappointed to learn that the Board of the Canadian Orthopaedic Foundation has made the decision that the National Hip Hip Hooray! walk for bone and joint health will not take place this year. The financial realities of the walk have made it no longer viable. The Foundation will concentrate on their "Because You Can" programme and I ask that you all continue to support them.

There will be a meeting of the Combined Orthopaedic Associations in Glasgow, Scotland, September 12 to 17, 2010. The call for abstracts will be sent to all of our members early in the New Year. I encourage you to submit your work for consideration by the programme committee and also hope that as many of you as possible will plan to attend the meeting.

Connie & Dr. Peter O'Brien

The next COA Annual Meeting will be held July 3-6, 2009 in Whistler, BC. The meeting dates have been chosen to encourage our members to bring along their families to the meeting. I expect that the scientific and social components of the event will be outstanding and look forward to seeing all of you there.

Connie and I hope that you all enjoyed a safe and happy holiday season. We wish you and your families all the best in the New Year.