St. Anthony's earns Advanced Total Hip and Knee Replacement Certification

HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Advanced Total Hip and Knee Replacement Certification by demonstrating continuous compliance with its performance standards. The Gold Seal is a symbol of quality that reflects a health care organization’s commitment to providing safe and quality patient care. 

HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital is one of two hospitals in the state of Illinois (the other hospital being located in DeKalb, Illinois) to have achieved this advanced orthopedic certification. This was the third time St. Anthony’s received this advanced certification, first achieving it in 2018. 

St. Anthony’s also once again received The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Orthopedic Certification for Total Shoulder Replacement Surgery. Advanced certification is not yet available for total shoulder replacement, so St. Anthony’s pursued and achieved basic recertification for that service.  

The certification, which is in collaboration with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, recognizes health care organizations that provide clinical programs across the continuum of care for total hip and total knee replacements. The certification focuses on the pre-surgical orthopedic consultation to the surgical procedure, hospitalization, rehabilitation activities, and follow-up visit with the orthopedic surgeon. The certification evaluates how organizations use clinical outcomes and performance measures to identify opportunities to improve care, as well as to educate and prepare patients and their caregivers for discharge. 

St. Anthony’s underwent a rigorous, scheduled virtual review on May 23-25, 2022. A specialized Joint Commission reviewer evaluated compliance with related certification standards including orthopedic consultation, and pre-operative, intraoperative and post-surgical orthopedic surgeon follow-up care, with an emphasis on care across the continuum and patient involvement in decision-making. Joint Commission standards are developed in consultation with health care experts and providers, measurement experts and patients. The reviewer also conducted virtual observations and interviews.

“Advanced Total Hip and Knee Replacement Certification recognizes health care organizations committed to fostering continuous quality improvement in patient safety and quality of care,” says Mark Pelletier, RN, MS, chief operating officer, Accreditation and Certification Operations, and chief nursing executive, The Joint Commission. “We commend HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital for using certification to reduce variation in its clinical processes and to strengthen its program structure and management framework for orthopedic patients.”

“We are pleased to once again have received advanced certification from The Joint Commission, the premier health care quality improvement and accrediting body in the nation,” said Chad Markham, president and CEO of HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital. “Our orthopedic team, from our pre-surgical and surgery colleagues and orthopedic surgeons, to those providing post-operative care and inpatient care, to our therapy team, all did an amazing job preparing for this recertification survey. We seek these recertifications on behalf of our patients. We continue to set the standard for excellence in all that we do, to continue providing high-quality, compassionate care close to home,” he said. 

For more information, please visit The Joint Commission website.