Total Joint Center Designated as Blue Distinction Center

The Total Joint Center, at Midland Memorial Hospital, recently received recognition from the Det Norske’ Veritas (DNV) Hip and Knee Replacement Certification, becoming fourth in the nation to receive this distinguished honor. This recognition comes four months after the Total Joint Center received designation from Blue Cross Blue Shield as being a Blue Distinction Center+ for hip and knee replacements.

The Total Joint Center is excited to be a recognized as a center of excellence with DNV, along with being a Blue Distinction+ Center, focusing on a wellness approach in the treatment of joint pain. The care provided is based on clinical pathways developed by a team of physicians, nurses, rehabilitation services and other ancillary staff members based on evidence-based research. All aspects from preoperative education, multimodal pain management, and rehabilitative services to discharge planning are provided within the Total Joint Center at Midland Memorial Hospital. The Total Joint Center combines beautiful state-of-the-art facilities with the capabilities to handle complex primary and revision total joint replacements to bring world-class care close to home.

About 30 percent of all Americans have suffered from joint pain at some point in their lives. Pain can occur in the knee, hip, ankle, shoulder, elbow or even fingers. Often, people experience joint pain for three or four months or longer before visiting a physician. With true osteoarthritis, which is the most common disease process for joint pain needing a replacement, the longer a patient waits, the more damage will be done to the bone and bone area.

Recognized as a Blue Distinction Center+ for Knee and Hip Replacement, Midland Memorial Hospital is known as an inpatient healthcare facility with demonstrated expertise and a commitment to quality care, resulting in better overall outcomes for patients of comprehensive inpatient knee and hip replacement services, including total knee replacement and total hip replacement.

The Total Joint Center understands people who seek treatment for joint pain are not sick but wish to return back to activities they once enjoyed and are working to increase their quality of life. The care provided is based on evidence based practice and the staff work to ensure every patient is receiving the highest quality of care throughout every aspect of their treatment.

The selection process balances quality, cost, and access considerations to offer consumers meaningful differentiation in value for specialty care facilities that are designated as BDC+. Guiding principles for the selection process include:
Quality - Nationally consistent approach to evaluating quality and safety was used, incorporating quality measures with meaningful impact, including delivery system features and specific quality outcomes to which all can aspire.
Cost - Nationally consistent and objective approach for selecting BDC+ was used to address market and consumer demand for cost savings and affordable healthcare.
Access - Blue members’ access to Blue Distinction Centers was considered, as needed, to achieve the program’s overall goal of providing differentiated performance on quality and, for the BDC+ designation, cost of care.