Crestwood Medical Center Has Been Designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip ReplacementSM
Huntsville, AL - Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama has designated Crestwood Medical Center as a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip Replacement. Blue Distinction Centers for Knee and Hip Replacement are part of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association’s expansion of its Blue Distinction® designation.
“We are honored to be identified by Blue Cross and Blue Shield as a facility that demonstrates expertise in knee and hip replacement” says Susan Bryce, Crestwood’s Director of Perioperative Services. “Meeting Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s quality standards is certainly an accomplishment that our team is proud of. Our physicians consider this unique partnership to be an integral part of our mission to always deliver quality patient care.”
Crestwood Medical Center offers comprehensive knee and hip replacement services, including an educational pre-surgery joint class, dedicated inpatient unit, inpatient therapy services and physical therapy gym, and outpatient therapy services.
The selection criteria used to evaluate facilities were developed with input from a panel of expert physicians. To be designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip Replacement, the following types of criteria were evaluated. More information on selection criteria is available on www.bcbs.com:
- Established acute care inpatient facility, including intensive care, emergency care, and a full range of patient support services with full accreditation by a CMS-deemed national accreditation organization
- Experience and training of program surgeons, including case volume
- Quality management programs, including surgical checklists as well as tracking and evaluation of clinical outcomes and process of care
- Multi-disciplinary clinical pathways and teams to coordinate and streamline care, including transitions of care
- Shared decision making and preoperative patient education
The Blue Distinction designation is awarded by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies to medical facilities that have demonstrated expertise in delivering quality healthcare in the areas of bariatric surgery, cardiac care, complex and rare cancers, knee and hip replacement, spine surgery and transplants. The program is part of The Blues® efforts to collaborate with physicians and medical facilities to improve the overall quality and safety of specialty care.
The additional Blue Distinction Centers for Knee and Hip Replacement designations will bring the nation’s number of Blue Distinction designations to more than 1,600—and this number is expected to increase in the coming years.
Note: Designation as Blue Distinction Centers means these facilities’ overall experience and aggregate data met objective criteria established in collaboration with expert clinicians’ and leading professional organizations’ recommendations. Individual outcomes may vary. To find out which services are covered under your policy at any facilities, please call your local Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield Plan.