New AAOS Web site provides single resource for patients

Each year, patients make more than 19 million visits to doctors for problems with their knees—from knee pain to torn ligaments to osteoarthritis severe enough to require joint replacement. Many of those patients may come into your office with sheaves of paper, printouts from Internet sites that may or may not provide accurate information about injury prevention, surgical and nonsurgical treatments, and expected outcomes.

Later this month, the AAOS will unveil a new Web site—one that provides patients with accurate, reliable information on everything they need to know about their knees. The new Save Your Knees Web Portal is a comprehensive, interactive site focused exclusively on the knee.

The new site is designed to engage, educate, and entertain patients of all ages with multimedia features such as audio and video clips, interactive polls, test-your-knowledge-questions, patient stories, and fun facts. All the information is focused on knees: how to keep knees healthy, recommended exercises, common knee problems, injury prevention tips, surgical and nonsurgical treatment options, and much more.

And while the site may be fun, it’s also factual. All content is reviewed by an editorial panel that includes AAOS fellows such as Colin F. Moseley, MD; Edward A. Toriello, MD; Frances A. Farley, MD; Nicholas A. DiNubile, MD, and Stuart J. Fischer, MD. Now you can send your patients to an Internet site they—and you—can trust for the most up-to-date information on the knee.

Special features
The following special features are among those you will find on the site:

Question of the Week—It may be a multiple choice or true/false question or an interactive poll. Each week a new question will be featured.

Healthy Knees at Any Age—A unique navigation tool enables visitors to click and drag the slider bar to select their age group—from children and adolescents through older adults and seniors. A series of links listed under the bar provide age-appropriate information.

Fun Knee Facts—These quick, interesting facts change randomly to engage and educate visitors.

Kids Korner—Little learners can meet the Bones family, learn how the knees work, and discover things to do to keep knees strong.

eMotion Picture—Artists with knee pain share their stories and artwork.

Patient Stories—Orthopaedic patients share their stories about dealing with various types of knee problems.

Public Service Announcements—AAOS print, radio, and television ads deliver a variety of important messages for any visitor. Press releases with the latest clinical and consumer news from the AAOS are also available.

Information Centers—A time-saving way to learn about knees in general, problems, different diagnoses, treatments, surgical options, and health and fitness.

See for yourself
The Save Your Knees site will be featured at the public relations booth at the 2009 Annual Meeting. Stop by and see for yourself how interesting and engaging the site is, and review the wealth of information it contains.

You can also pick up a two free prescription pads (50 sheets each) with the Save Your Knees URL. Distribute them to patients to let them know about the Save Your Knees Web portal.

Prescription pads are also available by calling the AAOS public relations department at (847) 384-4036 or by e-mailing publicrelations@aaos.org

SaveYourKnees.org was made possible by a generous grant from Genzyme.

Addy Kujawa is the AAOS public relations manager. She can be reached at kujawa@aaos.org