UAB Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Assistant Professor Sameer Naranje, M.D, MRCS, was awarded $10,000 in funding through the UAB Faculty Development Grant Program (FDGP). Naranje also serves as the director of the Fracture Fragility Care Program at UAB.

The UAB FDGP is designed to provide funding for faculty to develop manuscripts, publications, presentations, grant applications, future research initiatives, creative works, scholarly activity and new skills to enhance peer recognition outside of UAB. The program is only open to applicants who meet certain guidelines, such as being an assistant professor, among others.

To be considered for the FDGP, a faculty member must nominate themselves or be nominated by other faculty. The nominations are then reviewed and voted upon by the faculty senate. The department will match the $5,000 in grant funds, which gives Naranje a total of $10,000 in available funding.

The grant period is roughly one year, beginning May 2020, and at the end of the year, recipients of the UAB FDGP will present about their use of funds during a poster session and will also submit a final report.

With the funding, Naranje will lead a study that explores the feasibility and implementation of an easy to use, internet independent telephone/mobile/smart phone adapted intervention (IVR) in a pragmatic joint surgery program. The study will assess the feasibility using both patient and implementation centers outcomes, and usability of using IVR in proactively monitoring and managing rehabilitation and preventing unplanned and avoidable visits.

Naranje’s study aims to cut down on unplanned patient readmission and visits after total joint arthroplasty (TJA) of the hip and knee. Despite the popularity of TJAs, unplanned readmissions (5% cases) and visits (13%) continue to occur, further increasing the costs for patients and providers.

With this knowledge, Naranje’s study will collect pilot data to compare key outcome measures (patient reported physical function related to osteoarthritis of the hip and knee, pain score, and health-related quality of life will be assessed) between the IVR and the Treatment-As-Usual (TAU) group over a 90-day post-operative period. Results obtained from the study will be used to design a proposal for a larger R21 grant.

“This proactive monitoring has the potential to improve patient experience by preventing unplanned and avoidable hospital visits related with post-surgery wound and pain management,” said Naranje. “Additionally, we are assessing feasibility, user-friendliness, high patient and clinician satisfaction and clinical efficacy since the study is scalable and can be extended to other orthopaedic departments and healthcare overall.”

To read more about the FDGP, visit the Faculty Senate information website.