Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute Wins 2007 CIHR Partnership Award

Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute has won the 2007 Partnership Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for its work on the successful Alberta Hip and Knee Replacement Pilot Project.  

The CIHR Partnership Award recognizes collaborative efforts that bring health research communities together to create innovative approaches to important challenges.   The Alberta Hip and Knee Replacement Pilot Project tested a new health services model that was developed to reduce wait times and improve service quality and efficiency for hip and knee replacements.  The pilot, a partnership of ABJHI, Alberta’s physicians, the Alberta Orthopaedic Society, health regions, and Alberta Health and Wellness, was one of the most extensive health services delivery evaluations ever undertaken in North America.

The Alberta Hip and Knee Replacement Pilot Project has also been selected for publication in the CIHR’s inaugural Knowledge Translation Casebook, which will be published in the New Year.  The pilot was among 10 cases selected as outstanding examples of the benefits of developing knowledge collaboratively, using well researched evidence, and sharing the knowledge to advance health care.

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Highlights of the Hip and Knee Replacement Pilot Project:

• 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

Alberta's Umbrella Organization for Bone and Joint Health Care

Founded by J.R. (Bud) McCaig, the Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute is the umbrella organization for bone and joint health care, research and education throughout Alberta.

The Institute was founded on the strong belief that Albertans should have a standard of bone and joint health and health care that is the best in the world – a standard others will want to emulate. 

To establish this standard, the Institute is developing innovative, sustainable approaches to bone and joint health and health care.  These approaches are designed to improve access, quality and efficiency in the public health care system, increase prevention, and advance research and knowledge so that the care patients receive is based on the best evidence available globally and on sound medical judgment. 

The Institute’s work has produced a new patient-centered model of bone and joint health care that has captured the attention of people across Canada and in other countries.

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