Membership Survey 2007 - Results

Doug Thomson, CEO
Canadian Orthopaedic Association

The COA was formed "to achieve excellence in orthopaedic care for Canadians by: advancing professional fulfillment of orthopaedic surgeons; to promote and provide education of our membership; communicate and inform our members with timely and relevant information, and advocate for national standards of orthopaedic care."

As part of a strategic review, the Board of Directors of the COA mandated a survey of COA members to ensure that its products and reviews remain responsive to their changing needs and that the Board is setting strategic priorities in alignment with member expectations. In March of this year, an on-line survey was sent out to 890 COA members. A total of 283 questionnaires were completed for an overall completion rate of 31.8%.

Services
Between 60% and 80% of members indicated they were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with COA's monthly Dispatch communication, COA Bulletin, Annual Meeting and CME accreditation programmes. Between 40% and 60% gave the same rating to COA web site resources, representation & lobbying and National Standards Committee (NSC) reports.

Over three quarters or respondents gave ratings of "important" or "very important" to representation and lobbying, NSC Reports, and Annual Meetings. The monthly Dispatch and COA web site resources scored less than 40% in the same rating categories

Communication
Of all communications, the COA Bulletin is the most widely read with over 95% reading it "regularly" or "occasionally." On the other hand, significant numbers of respondents are "not aware" of the NSC Reports (24%) and 33% of members have not used the COA web site.

Over two thirds of members would like to see patient education guides, job postings, provincial reports and billing code comparisons in COA publications. High levels of satisfaction are reported for the COA Bulletin Forum, scientific Theme articles and Editorials. Overall, 95% of respondents rated COA communications with its members as "good" to "excellent".

Annual Meeting
Over 80% of respondents have attended a COA Annual Meeting in the past four years. Overall, high levels of satisfaction with the meeting were reported with specialty half days, panel discussion and symposia.

Of those respondents that have not attended an Annual Meeting in the past four years, date conflicts was the most common issue, however there were many comments on this question. A common theme appears to be that the COA Annual Meeting compares unfavorably with the learning opportunities available at the AAOS Annual Meeting. Another recurring theme in the comments is a lack of attention to specialties such as spine and paeds. The hands-on workshops also received a relatively high level of dissatisfaction.

Timing of the meeting is always a topic for discussion at the COA, however, the majority of respondents were satisfied with the current scheduling of the meeting.

Public Information and Lobbying
Only 40% of respondents feel that the COA has made an impact on the public and government about orthopaedic issues. A strong majority (83%) feel that the COA needs to put more emphasis on the image of orthopaedics held by the general public.

Priority of Current Issues
Over 90% or respondents feel that the COA should give a "high" or "very high" priority to orthopaedic manpower recruitment and retention. 80% of members rated fee relativity and wait times for non-arthroplasty specialties as "high" or "very high" priorities.

Fees and Membership
A strong majority of members (81%) feel they receive "good" to "excellent" value for their membership fees.

Demographics
The survey had a good balance of years of experience and types of practice reported by respondents. Ontario residents were strongly represented with 38% of respondents.

There were no noticeable differences in responses between academic/community/French speaking/English speaking/age/provinces of residence or years in practice.

Community-based members and Residents/Fellows were more likely to rate retention and recruitment as the highest priorities. French speaking members were slightly more satisfied with the value for fees while community- based members were slightly less satisfied.

Where to From Here?
The Board of the COA is meeting in late November for two days to debate and consider a revised strategic plan for the Association. The results of this survey will weigh heavily as priorities and action plans are developed and executed.

Thank you to all of the members who took the time to respond to our survey.