Asia’s 1st arthroplasty registry gives Taiwan edge in orthopedics

2016/10/07

Taiwan’s National Arthroplasty Registry, the first of its kind in Asia, is helping increase the success rate of local joint replacement procedures and cementing the country’s position as a regional leader in orthopedics.

Containing information on implants, cases and surgery techniques, the registry assists health care professionals and administrators in tracking trends impacting patient recovery and identifying problematic joints. It was launched in January by the National Health Insurance Administration under the Ministry of Health and Welfare in conjunction with medical institutions around Taiwan like Changhua Christian Hospital in central Taiwan, E-Da Hospital in southern Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City and Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in New Taipei City.

NHIA Director-General Lee Po-chang said Oct. 4 that the registry is set to play an increasingly important role in Taiwan’s health care system given the country’s rapidly aging population and rising incidence of joint replacement operations. “It helps detect problems with joints, lower the frequency of revision surgeries, minimize the risk of orthopedics mortality and cut back on unnecessary expenses.”

Citing Sweden as an example, Lee said the Scandinavian country reduced its second total hip replacement rate to 7 percent from 17 percent following introduction of the registry in 1979. The rate in Taiwan for 2007-2014 after one year is 0.6 percent and 2.18 percent after five years, according to the NHIA.

Dr. Ku Ming-chou, an orthopedic specialist and superintendent of Chang Bing Show Chwan Memorial Hospital in Changhua County, said eliminating the need for revision surgeries is of the utmost importance. “Second procedures result in more bone loss, increase the risk of infection and impact the long-term health of the patient.”

The registry, which is used in more than 20 countries such as Australia, Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway and the U.K., is the latest NHIA initiative aimed at heightening awareness among patients of personal surgery histories. Its data, along with dates of other operations, causes, procedures and consulting medical institutions, is to be incorporated into My Health Bank—an online database allowing patients to instantly access health records.

According to the latest NHIA statistics, information on 5,336 joint replacement surgeries carried out by 55 hospitals in Taiwan was uploaded to the registry as of June. This represents around 22 percent of the 23,717 operations performed at 230 hospitals during the six-month period.

The NHIA is encouraging doctors to register joint replacement cases with the goal of achieving an 80 percent recording rate. This will lay the foundations for a more comprehensive research platform going forward.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=248403&ctNode=2194&mp=9)