AnMed Health Total Joint Academy earns Center of Excellence designation
April 19, 2017
The AnMed Health Total Joint Academy has earned The Joint Commission’s gold seal of approval for Joint Replacement – Knee and Hip. The certification as a Center of Excellence recognizes that AnMed Health has met national standards for health care quality and safety and is dedicated to continually complying with state-of-the-art standards.
The Joint Commission, which accredits and certifies nearly 21,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States, has an extensive review process that culminates with a thorough on-site review for each facility applying for certification.
AnMed Health Total Joint Academy began the certification process two years ago, according to Nedra Brown, director of AnMed Health Women’s and Children’s Hospital and Orthopaedics. AnMed Health submitted an application and metric data to The Joint Commission, which conducted a data review “from a distance” to determine if the Total Joint Academy qualified for full consideration. The certification process looked at three key areas:
- Compliance with consensus-based national standards
- Effective and consistent use of appropriate, evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for the hip and knee replacement patient population
- Collection and analysis of a minimum of four performance measures, with at least two being clinical in nature, specific to the hip or knee replacement patient population.
Joint replacement programs that successfully demonstrate compliance in these areas are awarded certification for two years. To maintain certification, the cycle repeats with an on-site review every two years.
The joint replacement data reviewed by The Joint Commission included infection rates, patient outcomes, readmission rates and much more. Once The Joint Commission determined AnMed Health’s joint program was eligible, they conducted an on-site review in December.
Once on site, The Joint Commission reviewed processes for patient care, surgery, infection prevention, continuity of care, quality measures, patient mobility and patient discharge. They interviewed staff and physicians extensively.
Brown is proud the Total Joint Academy has zero mortality rates, zero or very low infection rates and very low readmission rates. Prior to the survey, the South Carolina Hospital Association had recognized the program with two Zero Harm Awards for the total joint population.
Brown also is excited to receive the Center of Excellence designation because patients and insurance companies recognize this award.
Brown doesn’t mind that recertification comes every two years because health care is always changing and evolving.
For additional information on AnMed Health Total Joint Academy or joint replacement information, please contact Nedra Brown at 864.512.4101 or [email protected].
AnMed Health is a 700-bed, not-for-profit health system serving the Upstate and northeast Georgia. The system is anchored by AnMed Health Medical Center, a 461-bed acute care hospital which has earned the prestigious Magnet® designation. The five-hospital system includes AnMed Health Women’s and Children’s Hospital, AnMed Health Rehabilitation Hospital, Cannon Memorial Hospital in Pickens, S.C., and Elbert Memorial Hospital in Elberton, Ga. With more than 400 physicians and 3,700 employees, AnMed Health is Anderson County’s largest employer. Learn more about AnMed Health, an affiliate of Carolinas HealthCare System, at www.AnMedHealth.org.
