Along the Way to Whistler

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

I was pleased to see so many COA members at the recent American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. The COA reception was extremely well attended and provided the opportunity for our members to meet and enjoy one another's company. I would like to express my appreciation to all of our members who represented Canadian orthopaedics so well by participating in the meeting's educational activities and scientific programme.

Recently we conducted a survey of COA members about the Canadian Journal of Surgery. 85% of those who responded indicated that they read the Journal and the majority are satisfied with it. Dr. Edward J. Harvey has been appointed co-editor of the CJS and replaces Dr. James P. Waddell as the COA representative in that position. I want to thank Dr. Waddell for the many years of hard work and the excellent job that he did as CJS editor. Congratulations to Dr. Harvey on his appointment and I look forward to the energy and enthusiasm that he will bring to the CJS. The COA will continue to be a major supporter of the Journal.

Dr. Peter J. O'Brien

The Canadian Joint Replacement Registry (CJRR) is receiving special attention this year as a part of the Association's strategic plan to promote care that is outcomes driven. The leadership of the CJRR steering committee is continuing to work with CIHI to improve our national registry. The Presidents Council (comprised of presidents and CEOs of various international orthopaedic associations) has emphasized the importance of national registries and the AAOS is moving forward with their plans to start a national joint replacement registry in the USA. In Canada, it is important that we improve the CJRR to make it more useful to all stakeholders. Work is being done to bring the overall capture rate of hip and knee arthroplasties performed annually in Canada to over 90%. To accomplish this, the entire data capture process will need to be streamlined. We will be meeting with government officials in this regard and I will provide you with updates as more information becomes available.

The Board of the Canadian Orthopaedic Foundation under the leadership of Dr. Kevin Orrell continues to work on restructuring the foundation. The Foundation is in a challenging position, in a very challenging economy. The Hip Hip Hooray! programme, long the main source of funding for the Foundation, has experienced significantly declining revenues since 1998. With current economic tides, a change was necessary to ensure the future of the Foundation and its relevance to its constituents. The Foundation has built a competency, with input from and review by our COA members, in patient education and support. Offered in their materials and on their web site is practical information, overviews of surgery, tips to prepare one's home and life for surgery and recovery. Their Ortho Connect peer support programme provides new patients the opportunity to talk to a trained volunteer who has been through a similar surgery. Ortho Connect will launch in national media this spring. As surgeons who treat the patients that the Foundation serves, we are a natural primary stakeholder and should take note of our Foundation's metamorphosis. We will be among the first stakeholders to benefit from these changes. The Foundation is creating a credible resource to which orthopaedic surgeons can direct their patients, aiming to help expand our capacity and extend our care from our clinics to the comfort of our patients' own homes. The Canadian Orthopaedic Foundation and the COA have natural opportunity for collaboration to ensure an environment in which patients receive the education, support, and treatment they need. We need a healthy, active patient-focused partner, and each of us can help the Foundation directly by letting our patients know of the services offered by the Foundation to help them through the care path.

The COA Annual Meeting will be held in Whistler, BC from July 3-6, 2009. The meeting is scheduled in the summer at a resort location to encourage our members to bring along their families. I want to thank Dr. Pierre Guy, Dr. Bob Hawkins and the Programme Committee for putting together an outstanding scientific session. Dr. Bob Meek has done a fantastic job as the Local Arrangements Chairman. He has organized a social programme that will be one of the most memorable in our history. Registration is open and I encourage all of our members to join us in Whistler. Please visit www.coaannualmeeting.org to register and obtain complete details about this exciting event. I look forward to seeing you there.