Dear Colleagues:

As one of our five centers of excellence, the Orthopedic and Arthritis Center is an area where we hope to achieve significant growth. The Orthopedic and Arthritis Center will build upon BWH's solid history as an innovator in musculoskeletal health to provide the highest quality of multidisciplinary care to patients in an environment supported by ongoing research, discovery and teaching.

We have long enjoyed a strong collaboration between Orthopedics and Rheumatology. The Orthopedic and Arthritis Center will further structure care delivery within these two service lines to better meet patient needs in the region and across the nation. Currently, BWH Rheumatology is dominant in the Eastern Massachusetts market, growing by 17 percent over the last five years. Likewise, BW/F Orthopedic inpatient growth (15 %) has outpaced market growth (9 %) within the same timeframe. In addition, the number of BW/F Orthopedic day surgeries continues to grow s ubstantially, while Orthopedic discharges and Arthritis prevalence is projected to increase by almost 15 percent in the next eight years.

It is important to note that more than half of BWH Orthopedic discharges are patients referred by physicians external to BWH. Moving forward, our relationships with those physicians will be key to sustaining such a referral rate.

We intend to expand the Orthopedic and Arthritis Center of Excellence by improving access and convenience for all patients; becoming the referral center of choice for patients and physicians, while further raising community awareness of this service line.

Sincerely,

Andy Whittemore, MD
Chief Medical Officer