would lead to its
becoming Joint
Commission-certi-
fied for total joints,
the second of only 3
such U.S. surgery
centers to achieve
this new designation
meant to validate a
surgical facility's
ability to deliver
excellent outcomes
to every patient. The
Joint Commission launched its "Advanced Certification for Total Hip
and Total Knee Replacement" program in early 2016 for accredited hos-
pitals, critical access hospitals and ASCs that perform both total hip
and knee replacements.
"How you think about your responsibility toward patients changes as
a result of the process," says Ms. Scott. "It's not just getting them into
surgery. It's managing all these other things that go along with it."
That evolution began when a surgeon and a nurse, sent by the Joint
Commission, arrived and began doing mock surveys and asking tough
questions. How, for example, would the center handle an overnight
patient who developed hyperglycemia or hypertension? (California
patients can stay in ASCs for 23 hours and 59 minutes.)
"We said, well, we'd call the surgeon," Ms. Scott recalls with a laugh.
"He pulled down his glasses and looked at me and said, 'I'm an ortho-
pedic surgeon. I know we don't know what to do.' I knew he was
right."
In September 2016, Ohio Specialty Surgical Suites in North Canton
7 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A P R I L 2 0 1 7
• A CUT ABOVE? Standardization and evidence-based medicine are key elements of
Joint Commission certification.
Sandra
Kocar,
RN,
BSN
