CONTENTS

1) CIHI: 87% Increase in Hip and Knee Replacements in Canada
2) Call for Nominations – COA 2^nd President Elect
3) Specialty Care Online Consultation is LIVE!

1) CIHI: 87% INCREASE IN HIP AND KNEE REPLACEMENTS IN CANADA
According to a report released last week by CIHI, Canada’s orthopaedic surgeons are performing significantly more hip and knee replacements than they were a decade ago. In 2004-2005, 58,714 patients received hip or knee replacements in Canada, an 87% increase over a 10-year period (from 31,463 hip or knee replacements in 1994-1995), and a 10% increase from the previous year (53,517 procedures in 2003-2004). "The number of hip and knee replacement surgeries is increasing at a faster rate than the population is aging," says Margaret Keresteci, CIHI's manager of Clinical Registries.

The Canadian Joint Replacement Registry (CJRR) 2006 Annual Report on Hip and Knee Replacements in Canada found that even after accounting for population changes and aging, there was a 21% increase in the rate of hip replacements over 10 years (between 1994-1995 and 2004-2005) and an 81% increase in knee replacement rates during the same period. The report found the largest rate of increase in patients between the ages of 45 and 54. The data also shows that people who are overweight or obese are more likely to require joint replacements in Canada. In 2004-2005, 9 out of 10 knee replacement patients were either overweight or obese, compared to nearly 8 out of 10 hip replacement patients. "There is an association between obesity and the increased risk of osteoarthritis, which is the most common diagnosis in joint replacement surgery," says Keresteci. According to CIHI’s report, joint replacement patients are spending less time in the hospital than they were 10 years ago. The average length of stay for a hip replacement patient in 2004-2005 was 9 days, down from 14 days in 1994-1995. Similarly, the length of hospitalization for a knee replacement patient decreased from 12 to 7 days over the same period.

The complete report could be found online at www.cihi.ca.

2) CALL FOR NOMINATIONS – COA 2^nd PRESIDENT ELECT
Dr. Robert Bourne, Chair of the COA Nominating Committee, is pleased to announce the opening of nominations for the position of Second-President Elect. The successful nominee will take over the presidency of the COA in July 2009 for a one-year term. We ask all members to please submit your nomination (you can nominate yourself and nominations do not need to be seconded at this point) to your regional Nominating Committee representative: E. Abraham (Atlantic) This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ; G. Goplen (Prairies) This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ; E. Harvey (Quebec) This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ; P. Blachut (BC) This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ; R. Bourne (Ontario) This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The Committee will select and present a nominee to the membership at the Annual Meeting in Halifax next June.

3) SPECIALTY CARE ONLINE CONSULTATION IS LIVE!
The CMA’s Specialty Care Online Consultation is currently live. The COA encourages all of its members to participate in this project. The data collected will assist in developing workable solutions for Canada's specialty care system that the CMA will deliver to Canada's decision-makers. Go to www.cma.ca/yourvoice to participate. To show the CMA’s appreciation, all participants completing the online consultation choicebook will be entered into a draw to win a Palm T/X handheld with Keyboard, a $500 gift certificate for the www.cma.ca store or free registration for CMA’s Leader’s Forum in November 2006 or 2007.