ALBERTA HIP & KNEE REPLACEMENT PROJECT
Hip and Knee Replacements
Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute and its partners have completed a year-long pilot project to test an innovative model of health care delivery on hip and knee replacements.
Developed by the Institute and its partners, the model is designed to give patients faster access to services and improve the quality and efficiency of the care they receive.
The pilot, called the Alberta Hip and Knee Replacement Project, was conducted in the Capital, David Thompson and Calgary health regions using clinics based in Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary. It involved 1,125 patients who had surgery under the new model and 513 who had surgery under the conventional approach to hip and knee replacements.
Alberta Health and Wellness Minister Dave Hancock described the pilot as “a staggering success story in Alberta” and announced the new model for hip and knee replacement will be rolled out as the standard across Alberta. Highlights of the results:
- Wait to see a surgeon – dropped from an average 145 working days to 21 days
- Wait from consultation to surgery – fell from average of 290 working days to 37 days
- Stay in hospital down almost a day and a half – to 4.7 days from 6 days
- Patient outcomes improved – for example, 85% of patients were up and mobile the day of their surgery
- Patients were better able to function physically and had less pain following their surgery
- Patients and health care providers were more satisfied
The new model has captured the attention of health system administrators and providers across Canada who are also trying to reduce wait times and improve service for hip and knee replacement patients.
Click on the links to the right to learn more about this innovative project.
Would you like to support the Institute’s Hip and Knee Replacement Project? For information on how to donate, please click on the link to the right.
