Hospital Guarantees Joint Replacement Surgery

Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is the first hospital in the U.S. to offer a surgical guarantee for hip and knee replacement surgery.

According to the news release, the guarantee promises patients, insurance providers and employers that they will not receive any additional bills for costs associated with surgery-related follow-up care that occurs within 30 days of the surgery.

Called the “Value Guarantee, ” the agreement covers the full range of care—admission, anesthesia, surgery and recovery—for an adult patient’s hip or knee replacement. All services must be provided by Our Lady of the Lake and its physician partners.

“We strive to be the leader in quality care in our market and this Value Guarantee is our way of demonstrating quality to everyone we serve including our patients, insurance companies and employers, ” said CEO Scott Wester. To participate in the guarantee program, the patient must have commercial insurance coverage, and must pledge to be an active participant in his/her care and recovery.

Patients are expected to attend pre-operative education classes and other pre-surgical evaluations as well as adhere to all post-surgery instructions and follow-up care. The guarantee does not cover costs associated with a failure of the implant.

Wester added, “Our Value Guarantee demonstrates to insurers and employers that we will address the overall cost of care by eliminating the need for post-surgical follow-up care or not charging for this care in the rare instance it is necessary. This guarantee is only possible because our team of skilled physicians and team members have shown the commitment to stand behind their work.”

The joint replacement program at Our Lady of the Lake performs more than 1, 500 total joint surgeries each year. In 2013, the hospital met or exceeded the quality benchmarks for these surgeries in overall quality, readmissions, mortality and patient experience, reported Wester.