Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute

What Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute does

Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute (ABJHI), now operating as the Institute for Improved Health Outcomes (IIHO), is an independent Canadian charitable organization founded in 2004 by Dr. Cy Frank and J.R. (Bud) McCaig with a CAD $10 million founding donation. The organization operates from Calgary and Edmonton and serves as a provincial convener on bone and joint health, working alongside Alberta Health Services, hip and knee clinics, Covenant Health, Health Link, the Alberta Orthopaedic Society, and academic researchers to develop evidence-based quality improvement programs, clinical pathways, and patient education resources.

Its core technology is a provincial Data Repository integrating clinical data from the Alberta health system with patient-reported outcomes collected electronically via REDCap at the University of Alberta, governed by an OIPC-approved Privacy Impact Assessment (File #HS281) under Alberta's Health Information Act. The MAP to MOTION patient platform provides modular, body-region-organized registry infrastructure enabling two-way data exchange between patients and clinicians. Around this data backbone sit branded decision support tools (Hip and Knee Toolkit, Comprehensive Quality Care Standards for Osteoarthritis), clinical pathways (Alberta Surgical Fractured Hip Clinical Pathway, Shoulder Assessment Clinical Pathways), and quality improvement programs (Blood Management, Catch a Break, Fracture Liaison Service across 15 hospital centres, Provincial Wait Times Reporting).

The organization's business model is that of a healthcare-focused not-for-profit: free core services to patients and the public, with operating funding derived from service contracts with Alberta Health Services and other healthcare providers, philanthropy processed through CanadaHelps and Benevity, and foundation grants. Research access to the data repository is provided through a formal application process that may include fees. In 2024 the organization announced a strategic rebrand to IIHO, broadening its mission beyond musculoskeletal health and beyond Alberta while retaining its bone and joint legacy, and it is now hiring for additional data engineering and project management roles to support that expanded mandate.

Name

Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute

Legal name

Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute

Website

https://albertaboneandjoint.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute, now operating as IIHO, is an independent Canadian charitable organization that operates a provincial bone and joint health data repository, the MAP to MOTION patient platform, clinical pathways, and quality improvement programs in partnership with Alberta Health Services, clinicians, and patients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Musculoskeletal Healthcare Quality Improvement

NAICS

Social Assistance (624), Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (624120)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHLAJANAM

Data Linkage, Registries & Longitudinal Cohort Surveillance

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Public Health, Government & Regulators/Health Program Evaluation & Surveillance

SECONDARYHLACAHAD

Care Management & Coordination Platforms (case/disease management workflows)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Digital Health & Health IT/Population Health Management & Value-Based Care Analytics

SECONDARYHLAKALAH

Hip & Knee Reconstruction (Arthroplasty)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Specialist Medical Practice/Orthopedics & Sports Medicine

Keywords

• Musculoskeletal health research
• Clinical pathway development
• Healthcare quality improvement
• Patient outcome measurement
• Orthopedic data analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

Calgary

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Service Contracts: Contracts with Alberta Health Services, healthcare providers, and government agencies for quality assurance, data analysis, and healthcare improvement services.
2. Philanthropy and Donations: Donations from individuals and organizations supporting bone and joint health improvements, processed through CanadaHelps platform.
3. Foundation Grants and Programs: Funding from foundations and government programs for research and healthcare improvement initiatives.

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute operates a provincial-scale data repository integrating bone and joint clinical data from the Alberta health system with patient-reported outcomes, and uses that evidence base to design clinical pathways, decision-support toolkits, and quality improvement programs for hip/knee replacement, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and hip fracture care. It delivers these offerings through affiliation agreements with Alberta Health Services, partnerships with clinics and hospitals across all five Alberta health zones, and patient-facing platforms such as MAP to MOTION.

Product overview

The Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute (ABJHI), now operating under the Institute for Improved Health Outcomes (IIHO) brand, functions as an independent charitable organization that develops innovative solutions and concepts to improve bone and joint healthcare in Alberta. The core product is a Data Repository that integrates provincial health system data with patient-reported outcomes. The MAP to MOTION platform serves as a patient registry enabling two-way information exchange between patients, care providers, and researchers, organized through a modular framework by body region. Supporting this ecosystem are multiple decision support tools including the Hip and Knee Toolkit, Comprehensive Quality Care Standards for Osteoarthritis, and clinical pathways for hip fracture care and shoulder assessment. The organization also delivers quality improvement programs (Blood Management Strategies, Hip Fracture Care initiatives) and prevention programs (Catch a Break, Fracture Liaison Service). An IIHO Secure Document Portal provides document access, while research services enable external data use through a formal application process. Patient surveys via REDCap collect PROMs and PREMs across surgical care touchpoints. ABJHI also provides provincial wait time reporting for hip and knee replacements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MAP to MOTION: An online platform that allows Albertans with bone and joint conditions to share detailed data on their treatments and outcomes with a wide network of health system researchers and clinicians. A two-way information hub integrating patient-reported data and health records.

Products and services

• Bone and Joint Data Repository A provincial-scale data repository integrating bone and joint clinical data from the Alberta health system with patient-reported health outcomes, operating through affiliation agreements with custodians of health data. It serves as a source of truth for healthcare practices, utilization, and outcomes across the continuum of bone and joint care, and supports external research via an application process.
• MAP to MOTION Platform An online platform enabling Albertans with bone and joint conditions to share detailed data on their treatments and outcomes with a network of health system researchers and clinicians. It contains patient registries organized in modular frameworks by body region (e.g., shoulder, knee) and supports both disease-specific and population health data.
• Provincial Wait Times Reporting Service Provincial wait-time reporting service for hip and knee replacement produced in partnership with Alberta Health Services and Alberta hip and knee clinics. Reports surgeon consultation and surgery wait statistics by region, including longest 10%, average, and shortest 25% metrics.
• Research Application Services Formal research intake and access service through which external researchers can apply to use the ABJHI data repository. Includes data linkage, data analysis, study design, and project management services, with application fees and a requirement for ethics approval.
• IIHO Secure Document Portal Secure document sharing portal (formerly ABJHI) with multi-factor authentication via email or TOTP. Provides authorized users access to the last seven years of imported reports and documents.
• Patient-Reported Outcome and Experience Measures (PROMs/PREMs) Patient survey-based data collection service using REDCap to gather questionnaire data at multiple care touchpoints (initial visit, 6 weeks, 3 months, 1 year post-surgery) across all five Alberta health zones for quality improvement, research, and health policy decision-making.
• Catch a Break Fracture Prevention Program Fracture prevention program delivered with Health Link that engages Albertans over 50 experiencing low-trauma fractures and connects them to bone health assessment and osteoporosis treatment through letters, phone calls, and family physician coordination. Screens over 3,000 hip fractures annually; over 10,000 Albertans were screened in the first year of the program.
• Fracture Liaison Service Provincial fracture prevention service operating in 15 Alberta hospital centres (11 on-site FLS and 4 tele-FLS) to ensure hip fracture patients receive osteoporosis diagnosis and treatment in order to prevent subsequent fractures. Demonstrated reduction of subsequent-fracture risk within 2 years by half.
• Alberta Hip Improvement Project (HIP) A 10-year prospective patient registry following patients with hip resurfacing arthroplasty and total hip arthroplasty to evaluate safety and effectiveness, generating evidence on revision rates, long-term outcomes, and appropriate patient populations.

Quantifiable outcome

• 36 lives saved annually through hip fracture care path enhancements
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Alberta Health ServicescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary strategic partner for healthcare quality improvement initiatives. ABJHI operates the data repository through affiliation agreements with AHS and supports the Bone and Joint Health Strategic Clinical Network with quality programs and reporting.
• Health LinkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealth Link 24/7 information and assessment phone service partner for the Catch a Break fracture prevention program. Engages with Albertans over 50 who experience fragility fractures to encourage follow-up osteoporosis care.
• Covenant HealthmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Fracture Liaison Service implementation for post-fracture osteoporosis care at hospital centres across Alberta.
• UniversitiesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnerships for research collaboration, data analysis, and knowledge exchange on bone and joint health improvements.
• STOP-Fracture TeammajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultidisciplinary evaluation team collaborating on hip fracture liaison services and osteoporosis medication initiation improvements.
• Alberta Orthopaedic SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRepresenting the province's orthopaedic surgeons, collaborated on designing the 2004 hip and knee replacement care path.
• Researchers and Medical PractitionersmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerClinical researchers, orthopaedic surgeons, rheumatologists, and other medical professionals collaborating on quality improvement and research initiatives.
• CanadaHelpsminorOthersOnline fundraising software platform used for processing donations and supporter engagement.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Manitoba Centre for Health Policy: University of Manitoba-based research center operating a provincial population health data repository. Same operating model (provincial health data + research access + policy analysis) as ABJHI.
• McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health: University of Calgary-based research institute focused on musculoskeletal health, sharing ABJHI's Alberta geography and bone-and-joint mandate. Operates as a research/clinical arm that often feeds data into ABJHI's repository.
• ICES (Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences): Ontario-based research institute linking population-level health data with clinical outcomes. Comparable to ABJHI in operating a province-wide health data repository for quality improvement and research access.
• Arthritis Research Canada: National arthritis and MSK research organization running patient cohorts and outcome studies. Highly comparable disease focus and PROMs-driven research methodology.
• Population Data BC: British Columbia's population-level health data repository providing researchers with linked administrative data. Closely analogous role to ABJHI's Data Repository, just at provincial scale in BC.

Broad incumbents

• Healthcare Excellence Canada: National organization focused on healthcare quality and safety improvement. Directly comparable QI remit to ABJHI's care pathway and quality-improvement programs.
• Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI): National, independent health data and analytics organization providing pan-Canadian comparative health information. Overlaps with ABJHI's provincial data repository and PROMs/quality reporting mandate at a much larger geographic scale.

Others

• Bone & Joint Initiative (USBJI): U.S. multi-stakeholder initiative focused on musculoskeletal health. Conceptually aligned with ABJHI's quality-improvement and stakeholder-collaboration model in the MSK space, but operates as an umbrella network rather than a data platform.

Emerging players

• Choosing Wisely Canada: National clinician-led campaign reducing unnecessary tests and treatments. Adjacent QI / utilization-reduction mandate that intersects with ABJHI's blood management and care-pathway work.

Regional players

• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW): Australia's national health and welfare statistics agency. Comparable cross-domain health data analytics and reporting mandate, operating in a different geography with similar institutional positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/abjhi_news
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC6_Lagn87bkATL2UFvng6og
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/5189766

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute