The New COA Web Site

Christian Veillette, M.D., FRCSC
Toronto, ON

Myles Clough, M.D., FRCSC
Kamloops, BC

Professional associations in the 21^st century require a strong integrated on-line presence to communicate more efficiently and effectively and to increase the value of services offered to their members and the public. The COA first developed a web site in 1998 to convey the purposes of the organization, to highlight sponsored events and to provide specific information for members. However, as the COA has grown, so has its information technology needs. At the 2005 Annual Meeting in Montreal and after requesting membership input, the Communications Committee decided to redevelop the COA web site using a full featured content management system. The overall goal was to simplify the creation, management, and sharing of information across the organization using modern technology to integrate services for our members and the public.

Dynamic (database-driven) Vs Static Web Sites
On the surface, the new COA web site has a crisp, clean look and an easier to navigate interface which is consistent across the entire web site. However, the fundamental difference between the new web site and the old web site occurs behind the scenes. On the old COA web site, each page was a separate static file where adding or updating content required sending the information to a web designer, editing the file, and re-uploading it to the server. This process was so time consuming that it was seldom used and the site was not updated adequately. In contrast, the new COA web site is a dynamic (database-driven) web site and ‘assembles’ content in real-time when a user visits a page. Dynamic web sites generate content from information stored in easy-to-update databases. So, site content is now managed using a simple web browser and our site can be updated easily and more frequently by the COA staff on their own. Our hope is that updated content will encourage members and the public to return to the COA web site often to view the latest information. The content management system also has the ability to accept contributions from all COA members, subject to editorial validation. The overall result is that the web site should be ever-changing and dynamic. In addition, database-driven web sites have increased functionality as interactive web applications, such as membership renewal, can be developed specifically for the COA to create services that improve both member and public experience. Lastly, over time there will be a reduced cost as content is easier to update, administrative tasks become more efficient, and a development platform is in place for future web services.

Components of the New Web Site
The new web site has five major sections: 1) Medical Education, 2) Patient/Public Information, 3) Annual Meetings, 4) Member Services and 5) Resources.

Medical Education
This section contains details on Continuing Professional Development, COA travelling fellowships (application forms, travel diaries, recipient lists), Canadian orthopaedic fellowship opportunities and information on Canadian orthopaedic residency training and programmes.

Patient/Public Information
We are currently in the process of developing patient information specific to the Canadian health care system on a wide variety of orthopaedic problems and procedures. The creation of these education guides for Canadian patients will be under the guidance of an editorial board. Our plan is to offer customizable patient education resources for our members to integrate into their practices. In addition, we have launched a new “Find an Orthopaedist” directory for the public, referring physicians and allied health professionals. To appear in this directory registered COA members must activate their COA Profile and permit their name, office contact information and summary practice details to be visible to the public.

Annual Meetings
This section provides details on the upcoming COA Annual Meeting arrangements. In addition, there are summary archives from previous meetings and live surgeries. In the future, we plan to integrate information from the Mid-Winter Meeting and professional associations across Canada that are affiliated with the COA.

Resources
This section contains a large collection of interesting orthopaedic content. The “Useful Links” subsection contains important Internet resources and a full customized version of Orthopaedic Web Links developed for the COA. The “Library” subsection catalogues information resources produced by the COA such as health policy statements and guidelines and select articles from past issues of the Bulletin classified under clinical topics, practice management and informatics.

Members Services
This section provides members with access to the on-line version of the COA Bulletin (under development), events calendar, career opportunities services, private membership directory, and membership dues renewal system.

Each member has the ability to log in and access areas of the web site restricted to members’ only. One of the most important aspects of the new web site is each member’s profile (My COA Profile). This profile contains useful information such as contact information and practice demographics and is integrated into the COA administrative workflow. The “Membership Directory" is a database of profiles of COA members and is accessible only to registered COA members. In addition, you have the ability to choose whether or not a summary profile appears in the list of orthopaedic surgeons accessible to the public. Only office contact information and summary details on practice subspecialty can appear in the public directory.

The Forum, a discussion area for COA members, allows registered COA members to read entries in the forum or submit new posts. We envisage the Forum being used to post general information/comments much like an orthopaedic classifieds section and discuss COA positions and decisions in the public/political arena.

The new web site also has the ability to provide mailing list functionality to interested members. A Shoulder and Elbow Mailing Lists for COA Members has been setup and will be moderated by Dr. Derek Plausinis (Kamloops, BC). Members interested in submitting cases for fellow Canadian orthopaedic surgeons to discuss can subscribe by sending an e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

A section called “Societies” has been created to provide the ability to post news or events by individuals from each subspecialty society. In addition, a news feed of the COA frontpage has been made available via RSS syndication. This allows interested members to have updated COA news delivered to an RSS Reader or integrated into their practice web site. It is a great way to provide new content to your practice web site that is informative to your patients and spread the word about the COA - and it's free.

What COA Members Need to Do
All COA members should login to the new web site and visit the My COA Profile section in the Members Area. It takes about five minutes to go through the tabbed sections and update your COA Profile. This short task is necessary for you to use the web site to the fullest extent and it enables the COA to be sure that its membership database is up to date. We have included safeguards to ensure your privacy and you have control over what information is available to the public and to other COA members. An e-mail message containing login information has been previously sent to each registered member with a valid e-mail address. In addition, a quick guide has been created providing details on how to update your COA profile.

The new COA web site has been developed using a cutting edge content management system. The Communications Committee is receptive to new features or services that members would like to see integrated into the new COA web site. In addition we encourage contributions of orthopaedic content such as news, articles, patient information, events, jobs, and fellowships from our members. We hope the community of orthopaedic surgeons that already blog, post images, and discuss cases over the Internet lead the way in using the new COA facilities and educate less Internet savvy members.