Saint Clare's Earns Gold Seal for Hip and Knee Replacement

Saint Clare’s has earned the Gold Seal of Approval and Disease-Specific Certification from The Joint Commission for Hip and Knee Replacement.  The quality certification was awarded by demonstrating compliance with The Joint Commission’s national standards for health care quality and safety in disease-specific care, including program management, delivering or facilitating clinical care, supporting self management, clinical information management, and performance measurement.

During the survey, Saint Clare’s demonstrated that it has qualified, competent practitioners who provide high-quality care through a strong infrastructure and that there is a continuum of care that encourages patients to participate in managing their disease. Saint Clare’s not only met the standards required for the Gold Seal of Approval and Disease-Specific Certification, but there were no negative findings in the final report during Saint Clare’s first attempt at the recognition.

“We are very proud of this latest accomplishment and public recognition by The Joint Commission of the outstanding quality of orthopedic care provided at Saint Clare’s,” said Leslie D. Hirsch, FACHE, president and chief executive officer of Saint Clare’s Health System. “Through this achievement at our Center for Joint Replacement, Saint Clare’s is finding new ways to enhance our patients’ overall surgical experience – before, during and after their stay in the hospital.”

The recognition places Saint Clare’s among some of the only hospitals recognized for this achievement.  Within the United States, only 306 total hospitals out of approximately 6,000 hospitals have applied and received this certification.  Additionally, only 18 out of approximately 83 hospitals in New Jersey have applied and received this certification.

The Joint Commission’s Disease-Specific Care Certification Program, launched in 2002 is designed to evaluate clinical programs across the continuum of care. Certification requirements address three core areas: compliance with consensus-based national standards; effective use of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines to manage and optimize care; and an organized approach to performance measurement and improvement activities.