Chicago-based Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush (MOR) and Franciscan Health Munster in Indiana have entered into a co-management agreement. MOR will collaborate with the Franciscan Health Center for Joint Surgery at the Franciscan Health Munster hospital.
Chicago’s Rush and Indiana’s Franciscan Health Join Forces
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According to the June 29, 2017 news release, “Denis Nam, M.D., a fellowship trained orthopedic surgeon, will serve as medical director for the joint replacement program at Franciscan Health Munster. He is board-certified in orthopedic surgery and specializes in knee and hip reconstruction and replacement. Dr. Nam will lead and direct all aspects of care regarding joint replacement, including staffing and protocols at Franciscan Health Munster.”
Patrick Maloney, Franciscan Health Munster hospital president and CEO, said, “Franciscan Health is always striving to offer the highest quality of health care and technological advances in medicine and this is yet another big step in that direction. We look forward to our partnership with MOR.”
“We are delighted to be joining forces with Franciscan Health Munster to offer exceptional inpatient options for our joint replacement and reconstruction patients,” said Charles Bush-Joseph, M.D., orthopedic surgeon and managing partner at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush. “MOR is dedicated to delivering superior orthopedic care and the best possible outcomes for our patients. Dr. Nam, who is a renowned researcher of new treatments, an international speaker, and award-winning orthopedic surgeon, will be an excellent addition to the Franciscan Health Center for Joint Surgery.”
Dr. Nam told OTW, “Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush has provided outstanding care to patients in Northwest Indiana for years, yet most patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty would travel to Chicago for their surgical procedure. By partnering with Franciscan Health we believe that we can provide the same level of excellent care while affording them the convenience of staying in the Munster area.”
“Even before this formal partnership, Midwest Orthopaedics has worked with Franciscan Health in standardizing our clinical protocols for patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty. We have already made great strides in patient management to ensure that the most up to date treatments and methods are being implemented. In the next six months we intend to solidify leadership through each phase of the patient experience to ensure that only the highest quality of care is being provided to our patients.”
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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