News at UI Health

The Department of Orthopaedics recently received a quality-care designation from Blue Cross Blue Shield for certain joint-replacement procedures.

The department was recognized as a Blue Distinction Center for Knee & Hip Replacement. Blue Distinction Centers (BDC) are nationally designated healthcare facilities shown to deliver improved patient safety and better health outcomes, based on objective measures that were developed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies with input from the medical community. 

As a BDC for Knee and Hip Replacement, UI Health demonstrated an objective commitment to quality care, resulting in better overall outcomes for patients who undergo knee and hip replacement procedures.  

According to Blue Cross, BDC facilities have demonstrated experience in offering a broad range of inpatient knee and hip replacement services, including total knee replacement and total hip replacement. Candidates for Blue Distinction Centers for Knee and Hip Replacement must submit clinical data to establish that they meet the selection criteria, which include:

• An established acute care inpatient facility, including intensive care, emergency care, and a full range of patient support services
• Full accreditation by a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)-deemed national accreditation organization
• A comprehensive quality management program
• An established knee and hip replacement program, performing required annual volumes for certain procedures (for example, at least 100 total hip and total knee joint replacement surgeries [primary and revision] per year, with a minimum of 25 each total hip and total knee replacements)
• An experienced knee and hip replacement surgery team, including surgeons with board certification, subspecialty fellowship training, and case volumes that meet the selection criteria for knee and hip replacement procedures
• Preoperative patient education
• Processes that support transitions of care
• Multidisciplinary teams and clinical pathways to coordinate and streamline care
• Use of an internal registry or database to track patient outcomes over time
• Participation in the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) with = 90 percent performance on process measures
• Clinical outcomes that meet objective thresholds, such as complication rates and length of stay, for specific procedures  

Congratulations to the Orthopaedics team — including surgeons, nurses, and staff — for being on being recognized for their commitment to patient care and outcomes.