Need a new knee? A study shows that Interior Health has the longest expectations in British Columbia.



[ad_1]

According to data released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), less than half of patients who needed knee replacement surgery in the Interior Health region have undergone the intervention during the recommended period.

In 2018, only 47% of eligible patients underwent knee replacement surgery within 182 days of accepting the procedure, the lowest rate among the five health authorities in the province.

However, this also represented a 9% increase over 2017, when only 38% of patients received treatment within the recommended 26-week period.

Ninety percent of patients received the procedure within 370 days of booking a date in 2018.

Statistics on waiting times for a knee replacement in Interior Health in the past five years. (via the Canadian Institute for Health Information)

Interior Health, on the other hand, had the lowest percentage of hip replacement patients within the recommended wait time of 51%.

Vancouver Coastal Health is the provincial leader in knee replacements, which treated 66% of patients within six months and 90% of patients within 315 days. They also performed 74% of hip replacements within the recommended time frame.

"Reducing wait times is a complex challenge and evidence suggests that increasing the number of surgeries performed will not necessarily mean patients will have shorter wait times," said Kathleen Morris, Vice President of Research. and badyzes at CIHI. "For example, Canada's growing and aging population, as well as the proliferation of conditions such as osteoarthritis and obesity, have contributed to an increasing demand for these joint replacement procedures."

The study includes all knee replacements (primary and revision), but excludes emergency cases and days when the patient was not available.

[ad_2]
Source link