Bylaws

Definition of ISAR

The International Society of Arthroplasty Registries (ISAR) is an organization made up of member registries. Its registered office is in Gothenburg, Sweden (organization number 802456-0156). ISAR was established in 2005.

1. Aim

The aim of International Society of Arthroplasty Registries is to improve the outcomes for individuals receiving joint replacement surgery worldwide. The society will facilitate and enhance the cooperation and sharing of information by member registries and further develop the capacity of individual registries to meet their own aims and objectives.

2. Membership of ISAR

Any national, regional, local, hospital or multinational arthroplasty registry may apply for ISAR membership. An arthroplasty registry is defined as a systematic collection of predetermined data on arthroplasty surgery with established methos for longitudinal follow-up, validation, and coverage and completeness analysis. Applications are assessed by the Steering Committee, which decides on the granting of membership.

The registries will be represented by individual members or officers of the specific registry who have been nominated according to that registry’s internal process.

3. Governance

a) Steering Committee, Officers and other Members

The Steering Committee is formed by the elected officers of ISAR and supported by any co-opted members, secretarial support and working group chairs. The Steering Committee reports to the general membership at the Business meeting.

At the first Steering Committee meeting after the Business meeting it will be decided who will be authorised signatories of the Society (act as “firmatecknare”).

A Nomination Committee of three (3) members will prepare nominations of Officers for elections at the ISAR Business meeting.

b) Officers

The Officers of the Society shall be the president, past president, president elect, secretary/treasurer and four (4) members at large. This group constitutes the Steering Committee.

c) Election of Officers

Elections will take place during the ISAR Business meeting to be held during the ISAR Congress meeting. In the event of an ISAR congress meeting not taking place during the calendar year then this will revert to an ISAR meeting to be held during the AAOS or any other time deemed to be appropriate by the Steering committee.

A term of office shall begin at the close of the Business meeting and shall terminate tw0 (2) years hereafter. No member may serve more than one consecutive term in the same office except for the Secretary-Treasurer. The Secretary/Treasurer may serve in the same office for not more than four (4) consecutive terms.

If a member is unable to fulfill their duties then the Steering Committee can co-opt another member to serve on the committee. A full member will be elected at the next Business meeting.

d) Members at Large

There are four (4) members at large to represent the broader registry community. These will be elected in the same way as officers and serve a term of two (2) years and not exceed two (2) terms in office. Any extension of tenure will require ratification at the Business meeting. Members at large have voting rights at the Steering Committee.

e) Adjunct members

There are three (3) adjunct members. One representing the device industry, identified by AdvaMed, one representing NORE (the Network of Orthopaedic Registry Europe) and the third representing NARA (Nordic Arthroplasty Registry Association). They can participate in the Steering Committee’s meeting, but cannot vote. These members will serve for two (2) years (term) and the individuals nominated to represent these organisations may not serve for more than two (2) consecutive term or four (4) years in total. The nominations of these adjunct members should be made by the societies or associations that they represent and not by the ISAR Steering Committee. In the interests of economy if a member of NARA is also an elected officer then there will be only two (2) adjunct members.

f) Nomination Committee

The three (3) members, one (1) appointed as chairman for the Nomination Committee are elected at the Business meeting for a period of two (2) years and could be re-elected for two (2) years.

g) Accountant

The accountant is elected at the business meeting for a period of two (2) years and could be re-elected for two (2) years.

h) Disclosure

At the beginning of each year members of the Steering Committee will be required to submit to the Chair a disclosure of competing interests.

4. Nomination and Voting

a) Nomination

The Nomination Committee will make nominatins for all available officers including President elect and will be announced at least eight (8) weeks prior to the Business meeting. Alternative nominations can be made from the general membership as long as the nominatin is seconded. Alternative nominations should be made at least six (6) weeks prior to the Business meeting to the Steering Committee and the Nomination Committee.

b) Voting

One vote is apportioned to each fee-paying member registry member of ISAR. A majority vote shall decide. Proxy votes are acceptable as long as they are submitted to the Secretary at least 24 hours prior to the start of the Business meeting. The registry shall nominate an individual voting on its behalf.

5. Quorum

A Quorum for a meeting of the Steering Committee is four (4) members plus the President or authorized deputy for the meeting.

There will be a minimum of six Steering Committee meetings per year but these, by the very nature of the ISAR Committee will be on conference call with either a web based forum or by telephone. All members must be able to simultaneously hear one another and have the opportunity to speak to the meeting.

6. Sub Committees

The Steering Committee may appoint standing Sub Committees as it sees fit. The number of Sub Committees may vary according to ISAR objectives and the chairperson of the Sub Committee reports to the Steering Ccommittee. The Steering Committee will review the Sub Committees every two (2) years.

7. Change of Bylaws

Any proposed changes to the Bylaws shall be submitted to the ISAR Secretary at least six (6) weeks prior to the Business meeting unless there are exceptional circumstances. The definition and interpretation of “exceptional circumstances” will be open to the discretion of the ISAR membership at the Business meeting. A Bylaw can be changed by a majority vote at a scheduled Annual Business Meeting.

8. Bylaws Review

The Steering Committee will review the Bylaws every three (3) years.

9. Annual Membership Fee

The Treasurer will recommend the annual membership fee yearly for the next year. The fee will be reviewed and ratified at the Annual Business Meeting. The Steering Committee, at its discretion, can decide to waive the annual fee in some circumstances.

10. Meetings and Reports

Annual General Meeting, Business Meeting and Congress

a. General Meeting

The general meeting is an open meeting, which may be held during any major meeting such as AAOS, EFORT, SICOT, although this will generally be held during the AAOS. The objective of this meeting is to encourage communication between registries and provide a platform to demonstrate the value and relevance of registries to the wider orthopaedic and public community.

b. Business Meeting

The Business meeting is a closed meeting (limited to ISAR members) and will deal with ISAR strategy, operational delivery and financial probity. The Business meeting will be held at the time of the ISAR congress or at any other time decided by the Steering Committee. Only paid members of ISAR will be able to vote at the Business meeting and one vote (or proxy) will be accepted per member registry. In the event that the congress is not held, then the Business meeting will revert to the AAOS or at any other time decided by the Steering Committee.

One vote is apportioned to each fee paying registry member of ISAR. A majority vote shall decide. Proxy votes are acceptable as long as they are submitted to the Secretary at least 24 hours prior to the start of the Business meeting. The registry shall nominate an individual voting on its behalf.

The announcement of the Business meeting will be sent to all members eight (8) weeks prior to Business meeting. At the same time information will be sent regarding Officers, Members at Large, Adjunct Members and Accountant whose terms will expire at the upcoming Business meeting.

The agenda, annual report and information regarding elections and Bylaw changes and other relevant information will be sent to all members four (4) weeks prior to the Business meeting.

The Business meeting will deal with:

1) A list of votes to be decided at the Business meeting

2) Election of chairman for the Business meeting and secretary for the meeting

3) Election of one person to approve the protocol together with the chairman

4) Question if the meeting has been announced according to the Bylaws

5) Agenda for the Business meeting

a. Annual report from the Steering Committee for the business year

b. Economic result including balance sheet and income statement for the business year

6) Accountant’s report of the Steering Committee’s report

7) Granting discharge for the Steering Committee

8) Decision of the annual membership fee for the next year

9) Decision of strategy for next business year and budget

10) Decision on suggestions submitted by Steering Committee and/or members

11) Election of:

a. President Elect of the Society (every second year)

b. Secretary/Treasurer (every second year)

c. Members at Large (every second year)

d. Nomination Committee (every second year)

e. Accountant (every second year)

Only items on the Agenda will be decided at the Business meeting

c. Congress

The ISAR congress is an open meeting that brings together the International Registry Community. It provides a forum for the presentation of scientific outputs from registries and for registry collaboration. ISAR welcomes all parties who have an interest in registries to attend.

d. Reports

An Annual report on the activity of ISAR during the previous calendar year shall be presented at the Business meeting together with a financial report from the Treasurer. These reports to be approved by voting members of ISAR at the annual Business meeting.