First arthroplasty registry in Asia boosts Taiwan’s position in orthopedics
Taiwan’s National Arthroplasty Registry, the first of its kind in Asia, strengthens the country’s position as a regional leader in the field of orthopedics as it helps increase the success rate of local joint replacement procedures.
The registry contains information on implants, cases and surgery techniques to provide assistance to healthcare professionals and administrators in identifying problematic joints as well as tracking trends that impact patient recovery.
The National Arthroplasty Registry was launched in January 2016 by the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) 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.
The registry is set to play an increasingly important role in Taiwan’s healthcare system given the country’s rapidly aging population and rising incidence of joint replacement operations, said NHIA Director-General Lee Po-chang.
“It helps detect problems with joints, lower the frequency of revision surgeries, minimize the risk of orthopedics mortality and cut back on unnecessary expenses.”
The director-general cited Sweden as an example, saying the Scandinavian country was able to reduce its total second hip replacement rate to 7% from 17% following the introduction of the registry in 1979. The rate in Taiwan for 2007-2014 after one year is 0.6% and 2.18% after five years, according to the NHIA.
According to Dr. Ku Ming-chou, an orthopedic specialist and superintendent of Chang Bing Show Chwan Memorial Hospital in Changhua County, it is very important to eliminate the need for revision surgeries as second procedures result in increased risk of infection, more bone loss and may also have long-term impacts on the patient’s health.
The registry, which is used in more than 20 countries such as Australia, Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway and the UK, 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% 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% recording rate. Going forward, this will lay the foundations for a more comprehensive research platform.
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