Mon General Hospital Earns National Recognition for Distinction in Knee and Hip Replacement

Mon General Hospital has been named a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip Replacement ® by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield West Virginia. This distinction recognizes Mon General Hospital for demonstrating a commitment to providing quality care and better overall outcomes for knee and hip replacement procedures.

Blue Distinction® is a national designation awarded by 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 or transplants.

To earn this designation, Mon General Hospital was evaluated based on an objective, evidence-based selection criteria established with input from expert physicians and medical organizations. The goal of Blue Distinction is to identify medical facilities that deliver better overall quality and medical outcomes for a specific area of specialty care, helping patients and doctors to make more informed hospital choices.

Mon General Hospital features one of the largest groups of orthopedic surgeons of any hospital in the State of West Virginia and currently performs approximately 3,600 orthopedic procedures annually, including knee and hip replacements. The number of orthopedic procedures performed at the hospital has increased 20 percent during the past five years.

With continued growth expected in orthopedic procedures as the area’s population ages, Mon General Hospital opened a new Orthopedic Surgery Center in January 2012. The new center features four operating suites, an eight bed recovery area and a 13-bed holding area for pre- and post-operation care. The new center will include space to add two additional operating rooms in the future as volume expands.

“This Blue Distinction designation is a tribute to the dedicated team of physicians, nurses, technicians and therapists who helped develop Mon General Hospital’s comprehensive programs in Knee and Hip Replacement,” said Mon Health System President and CEO Darryl Duncan. “Their clinical expertise in this area of specialty care has resulted in better overall results for our patients.

“This national distinction also reinforces our decision to build a new Orthopedic Surgery Center to meet the area’s growing need for more modern operating rooms to treat complex orthopedic cases,” Duncan said. “We have one of the best orthopedic surgery teams in the state and soon will have one of the most modern Orthopedic Surgery Center’s in the region.”

“Our Blue Distinction program recognizes hospitals that demonstrate higher levels of performance in providing better specialty care for patients," said Fred Earley, President of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield West Virginia. “Improving quality of care is integral to transforming the healthcare system. Facilities like Mon General Hospital are helping the North-Central West Virginia area achieve this by offering patients safe specialty care delivered by medical teams with expertise.”

Blue Distinction selection criteria cover a broad range of quality measures. By earning the designation, Mon General has demonstrated:

· An established program, performing required annual volumes for certain procedures

· Appropriate experience of its care team

· Full facility accreditation by a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)-deemed national accreditation organization

· Adherence to evidence-based clinical care measures and guidelines

· A comprehensive quality management program

“Blue Distinction puts a high value on the consistent delivery of evidence-based care,” said Dr. Allan Korn, chief medical officer of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA). “Blue Distinction Centers demonstrate our commitment to working with doctors and hospitals in communities across the country to identify leading institutions that meet objective quality criteria and deliver better overall outcomes in specialty patient care.”

Blue Distinction Centers for Knee and Hip Replacement provide comprehensive inpatient knee and hip replacement services, including total knee replacement and total hip replacement surgeries.

To learn more about the Blue Distinction designation, visit www.bcbs.com/bluedistinction.