Lynchburg, VA —Solucient and Human Motion Institute released research results that name Centra Health as one of the nation's 100 Top Orthopedic Hospitals.
The study, "100 Top Hospitals: Orthopedic Benchmarks for Success" uses Medicare data and compares performance on four established, technical procedures: total knee replacement; total hip replacement; partial hip replacement; and open reduction and internal fixation of fractures of the femoral neck.

"The orthopedic department is proud of this recognition," said H. C. "Cap" Eschenroeder, M.D., chairman of Centra Health's orthopedic department and a member of Central Virginia Orthopedics. "We constantly strive to improve the care we provide. When you see the breadth and quality of our services, you realize Lynchburg is a very attractive setting for orthopedic care."

The methodology used to calculate the 100 Top Hospitals list is based on a review and analysis of more than 700,000 Medicare orthopedic cases from 1,200 hospitals, using the following clinical and financial measures:

1. Risk-adjusted mortality rates;
2. Risk-adjusted complication rates;
3. Count of unique patients receiving orthopedic services;
4. Average length of stay at hospital, adjusted for illness;
5. Cost per patient, adjusted for illness severity & local wage differences;
6. Percentage of patients who came from and were discharged to home.

If all hospitals providing orthopedic services performed at the level of the 100 Top Orthopedic benchmark hospitals, according to Solucient, complications would decline 30 percent, length of stay would fall nearly 4.5 percent, and costs would drop 3 percent.

"This didn't happen by chance," noted Joseph H. Wombwell, MD of Blue Ridge Orthopedics. "We put in effort over the years to strive for excellence, both clinically and with regard to patient satisfaction. The history of cooperation among orthopedic groups and the hospital to coordinate services in single location enables us to concentrate services and keep costs in line."

"This represents a culmination of 20 years of work in conjunction with the hospital to achieve this," said Paul Fitzgerald, MD, of Piedmont Orthopedic Services. "We've been able to standardize our approach to a number of problems and we have excellent communication among physicians and the important support services like anesthesia, nursing and physical therapy."

Earlier this year Centra Health's Cardiovascular program was also ranked by Solucient to be among the 100 top programs in the country. "This is a proud moment. No other Virginia hospital or health system has been selected for both 100 top listings," said George Dawson, president and CEO of Centra Health.

Robert Bowen, MD, an orthopedic surgeon in private practice, sees how success carries over to patients. "This is a good organization, and you see it reflected in the confidence the public has in the caregivers in this community."

Solucient is based in Evanston, Illinois. Study excerpts are available at www.100TopHospitals.com.