Mercy Medical Center has received the 2008 Orthopedic Care Excellence™ Award from HealthGrades ® -- marking the fourth year in a row that the nation’s leading healthcare ratings company has given Mercy’s program its highest honor.

Mercy is the only hospital in Nassau County to rank in the top five percent in Overall Orthopedic Services among the more than 5,000 facilities across the nation that are analyzed by HealthGrades for its annual study of Hospital Quality in America.

Mercy received the HealthGrades study’s highest Five Star rating for primary total knee replacement surgery, hip fracture repair surgery, and back and neck surgery with spinal fusion.

HealthGrades provides ratings and profiles of hospitals, nursing homes and physicians to consumers, corporations, health plans and hospitals. Its annual study of study of Hospital Quality in America is now in its tenth year, with ratings for hospitals across the nation are available, free of charge, on line at: www.healthgrades.com.

Mercy Medical Center is widely recognized for high-quality, innovative orthopedic care. It is the only hospital in New York State offering Computer-Assisted Robotic Total Knee Replacement surgery, along with a unique “Joint Endeavor” Program designed to achieve superior results through holistic care that includes education, exercise, lifestyle evaluation and rehabilitation in addition to the surgery itself.

Joint Endeavor takes a multidisciplinary approach that involves physicians, therapists, care managers, nurses, social workers and, perhaps most importantly, patients.  This team collaboration addresses the entire continuum of care (preoperative through post discharge), combining initiatives in patient education, clinical pathway establishment and postoperative rehabilitation to ensure that desired outcomes are achieved.

Members of the team have clearly defined responsibilities in the effort to achieve clinical effectiveness.  The Joint Endeavor Coordinator oversees the process, serving as facilitator, liaison, educator and active partner in providing care.  The physician’s role extends beyond providing clinical care to correlating clinical and administrative activity with the goal of improving care and managing costs.  Nurses, therapists, social workers and care managers carry out their responsibilities based on preplanned clinical pathways along the entire continuum of care.

The patient’s active participation in Joint Endeavor is a vital component in its success.  Prior to being admitted to the hospital, the patient attends a preoperative educational class  at which the surgery and postoperative course of therapy are explained in detail, thus encouraging compliance in both the pre- and post-operative phases of the process.

The patient will also receive a pre-operative home safety evaluation as well as ongoing guidance and instruction during the hospital stay. Whenever possible, a family member or other caregiver is included in the process.  The goals of the program are shorter hospital stays and a quicker reintroduction to a normal lifestyle.  

For more information regarding the Joint Endeavor Program at Mercy, please call Marie Callari, RN at (516) 705-1050.