New Brunswick, NJ – Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), an RWJBarnabas Health facility, has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Total Hip and Knee Replacement Certification for the second consecutive time 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.
The certification focuses on the pre-surgical orthopedic consultation to the intraoperative phase of care, hospitalization rehabilitation activities, and follow-up visit with the orthopedic surgeon.
RWJUH underwent a rigorous, onsite review on May 14, 2021. During the visit, the Joint Commission reviewer evaluated compliance with related certification standards including Clinical Information Management, Performance Measurement, Program Management, Supporting Self-Management, as well as Delivering and Facilitating Clinical Care. The Joint Commission develops standards in consultation with health care experts and providers, measurement experts and patients. The reviewer also conducted onsite observations and interviews.
“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 RWJUH for using certification to reduce variation in its clinical processes and to strengthen its program structure and management framework for orthopedic patients.”
“I’m so proud of the RWJUH Orthopedics team for achieving another Gold Seal in Total Hip and Knee Replacement, and especially for receiving commendations teamwork, staff longevity, reduced length of stay, collaboration and more,” says Bill Arnold, President and CEO of RWJUH. “The rigorous survey validated the excellent care we provide to our patients.”
“The orthopedics and surgical teams are committed to meeting and exceeding national standards for quality and outcomes every day because of the impact it has on our patients’ outcomes and recovery,” says David Harwood, MD, joint replacement surgeon at RWJUH and Clinical Associate Professor at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “Achieving re-certification without findings is a remarkable achievement on behalf of the people who entrust us with their care and quality of life.”
The RWJUH team underwent rigorous preparation for the site visit, including multi-disciplinary meetings with representative across the many departments that contribute to care in orthopedics. The team holds monthly process review meetings to ensure continuous improvement to the program. This has yielded significant benefits to patients in terms of reduced length of stay in the hospital for hip and knee replacement, decreased complication rates and reduced use of opioids in the hospital following surgery. In fact, in 2020, 90 percent of hip and knee replacement patients went directly home upon discharge from RWJUH.
For more information about the certification, please visit The Joint Commission website. To learn more about RWJUH hip and knee replacements, visit Joint Replacement Surgery at RWJUH.