At First Meeting, Hospital CEOs From Around the World Discuss Orthopedic Challenges and Opportunities

New York City—May 20, 2010

Hospital CEOs from around the world joined some of the foremost thought leaders in orthopedics including surgeons and researchers for the first time to share insights into the opportunities and challenges of running the world’s leading orthopedic programs at the third annual meeting of the International Society of Orthopaedic Centers (ISOC). Hosted by Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli in Bologna, Italy, earlier this month, this three-day meeting attracted 13 institutions from 10 countries. The initiative was launched by Hospital for Special Surgery, where the inaugural session took place in New York in 2007.

“The ISOC was founded to facilitate the exchange of ideas and innovative practices among the orthopedic community and to improve patient care, education and research on a global scale,” said Thomas P. Sculco, M.D., surgeon-in-chief at Hospital for Special Surgery and ISOC founder who presented at the meeting.

The symposium in Bologna built upon solutions presented at the past two meetings. “ISOC presents an extraordinary opportunity for 14 institutions considered a model of excellence in orthopedics in their respective markets to come together in the spirit of collaboration and share processes and procedures, retrospective and prospective data, and education and training programs with the primary focus of improving patient care and outcomes,” said Louis A. Shapiro, FACHE, president and chief executive officer of Hospital for Special Surgery.

Scientific and academic sessions at the ISOC meeting highlighted research and advanced clinical practice from each participating institution. Chief executive officers participated in a parallel discussion on the opportunities and administrative challenges of operating orthopedics programs at a time when demand for services is unprecedented, leading to record growth. Challenges discussed included maintaining high quality and service during periods of high growth, increasing efficiencies to meet capacity demands, and overcoming physical expansion constraints by identifying opportunities in other geographic areas. The group agreed to continue the dialogue throughout the year sharing best practices and performances.

At its last meeting in 2008, the ISOC produced a consensus paper on challenges facing orthopedic care and initiated four task forces: Education/Fellowship; Outcome/Clinical Studies/Registries; Implant Retrieval; and Information Exchange/Website.

The next meeting is scheduled for 2011 in Chile.

The ISOC objectives are to promote scientific, clinical and educational collaboration among participating institutions; to improve quality of patient care through sharing of clinical pathways and treatments; to collaborate on academic programs through the exchange of residents, fellows and faculty; and to share strategies on clinical pathways for patients and cost effective measures for economic success for major orthopedic programs.

ISOC membership has grown from 10 institutions in 2007 to 14 in 2010 at this year’s meeting, which ran from Apr. 29 to May 1. In addition to the hosting institution, this year’s attendees included Hospital for Special Surgery; Campbell Clinic, Germantown, Tenn.; Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.; Clinica Alemana (Chile), Endo Klinik (Germany), Instituto Nacional De Rehabilitacion (Mexico), Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi (Milan, Italy), Lund University Hospital (Sweden), Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (United Kingdom), Schulthess Klinik (Switzerland), Sint Maartenskliniek (The Netherlands) and University Hospitals Leuven (Belgium).