Informing the journey of your soft tissue knee injury

Knees are a commonly injured joint, with injuries often occurring in the soft tissues in and around the knee. While the knee is a resilient joint and recovery is often straightforward, some of these injuries require more dedicated assessments and interventions, like guided-exercise or surgery. Quality improvement data from 2010 suggested that some people were seeking help from up to eight different providers to try and address their knee injury.

The Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute (ABJHI) has launched a survey in partnership with two bone and joint clinics in Alberta to learn more about what currently happens. The results will help ABJHI and the Bone and Joint Health Strategic Clinical Network (BJH SCN) get feedback from individuals with soft tissue knee injuries who receive assessments at the clinics. We are interested in knowing about people’s journey in seeking treatment for their knee injury: what other healthcare services are they using before and after appointments at the clinics? What are people’s expectations going into the appointment for the treatment they will receive? Are the treatment plans addressing their expectations?

How well a patient navigates through the healthcare system is recognized as a key component of improving access, processes, and outcomes of care. It also provides evidence to inform system-wide health planning, evaluation, and funding of services. The survey (launched 2020) will inform a broader providence-wide strategy of the BJH SCN to help Albertans get the most appropriate musculoskeletal assessment completed for people to return to their pre-injury activities sooner and with the best success.