SARH Earns Blue Distinction Designation for Quality Care in Joint Replacement

San Antonio Regional Hospital earns the Blue Distinction® Care Designation for quality in knee and hip replacement surgeries.

Upland, United States – June 12, 2017 /PressCable/ —

Upland, CA — Blue Shield of California has selected San Antonio Regional Hospital, Joint Replacement in Upland, CA, as a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip Replacement as part of the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. Blue Distinction Centers are nationally designated healthcare facilities, shown to deliver improved patient safety and better health outcomes, based on objective measures that were developed with input from the medical community.

Knee and hip replacement procedures are among the fastest growing medical treatments in the U.S., according to studies published in the June 2014 Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Hospitals designated as Blue Distinction Centers for Knee and Hip Replacement demonstrate expertise in total knee and total hip replacement surgeries, resulting in fewer patient complications and hospital re-admissions. Designated hospitals must also maintain national accreditation.

“San Antonio Regional Hospital is proud to be recognized by Blue Shield of California for meeting the robust selection criteria for knee and hip replacements set by the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program,” states Harris F. Koenig, President and Chief Executive Officer, San Antonio Regional Hospital. The Total Joint Replacement Program located at San Antonio’s Orthopedic Institute offers patients a superior experience on many levels. The program incorporates best practices and a more streamlined, efficient approach to ensure the best outcomes for patients while minimizing recovery time.

“Our patients benefit from a dedicated orthopedic team that involves many disciplines within the hospital,” Koenig states. “In addition to some of the finest orthopedic surgeons in the region, our registered nurses and physical therapists have special training to concentrate on patients who have undergone a joint replacement surgery. We have also added extra mobility aides on the floor to assist our patients in ambulating more often. This accelerates healing and recovery time. In fact, most of our knee and hip replacement patients go home within one to two days. Our Orthopedic Nurse Navigator is also a valuable part of the team, providing pre-surgery education and post-surgery follow-up, so our patients have a resource to turn to for questions or assistance every step of the way.”

Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program has helped patients find quality providers for their specialty care needs in the areas of bariatric surgery, cardiac care, complex and rare cancers, knee and hip replacements, maternity care, spine surgery and transplants, while encouraging healthcare professionals to improve the care they deliver. Research shows that facilities designated as Blue Distinction Centers demonstrate better quality and improved outcomes for patients compared with their peers.

For more information about the program, and for a complete listing of the designated facilities, please visit https://www.bcbs.com/about-us/capabilities-initiatives/blue-distinction.

About San Antonio Regional Hospital

San Antonio Regional Hospital in Upland, California is a 363-bed, nonprofit, acute care hospital that combines excellent clinical care with exceptional compassion. The award-winning hospital offers a comprehensive range of general medical and surgical services, along with the latest technological advances in cardiac care, cancer care, orthopedics, neurosciences, women’s health, maternity and neonatal care, and emergency services. Since 1907, San Antonio Regional Hospital has emerged as a premier regional medical facility with satellite locations across the rapidly expanding Inland Empire. The hospital is nearing completion of a major expansion project that will add a new 52-bed emergency department and a 92-bed patient tower comprised of 80 private rooms and 12 critical care beds on its main hospital campus. The expansion positions San Antonio as a hospital of the future, offering state-of-the-art healthcare services in a healing environment that is focused on the patient and family. To learn more about SARH (Upland, CA) joint replacement center, visit https://www.bcbs.com/about-us/capabilities-initiatives/blue-distinction.

About Blue Shield of California

Blue Shield of California, an independent member of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, is a nonprofit health plan with 4 million members, 6,800 employees and more than $13 billion in annual revenue. Founded in 1939 and headquartered in San Francisco, Blue Shield of California and its affiliates provide health, dental, vision, Medicaid and Medicare health care service plans in California. The company’s mission is to ensure all Californians have access to high-quality care at an affordable price. Blue Shield has contributed more than $325 million over the past ten years to the Blue Shield of California Foundation. For more information, visit www.blueshieldca.com.

About Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is a national federation of 36 independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that collectively provide healthcare coverage for nearly 105 million members – one in three Americans. For more information on the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and its member companies, please visit www.BCBS.com.

About Blue Distinction Centers Blue Distinction Centers (BDC) met overall quality measures for patient safety and outcomes, developed with input from the medical community. A Local Blue Plan may require additional criteria for facilities located in its own service area. Each facility’s cost of care is evaluated using data from its Local Blue Plan. National criteria for BDC and BDC+ are displayed on BCBS.com.

Contact Info:
Name: Cathy Rebman
Email: crebman@sarh.org
Organization: San Antonio Regional Hospital
Address: 999 San Bernardino Rd., Upland, CA 91786, United States
Phone: +1-909-920-4802

For more information, please visit https://www.sarh.org

Source: PressCable

Release ID: 206831