Providence Joins the California Joint Registry

Providence Health  & Services, Southern California, has joined  the prestigious California Joint Replacement Registry. The registry provides important information for several stakeholders, including providers who are given  tools to analyze their  performances and make quality improvements. Moreover, the registry assists health  insurance groups and patients in seeking  high-value providers.

The registry was established in 2010 by the California HealthCare Foundation in partnership with the Pacific Business Group  on Health  and the California Orthopaedic Association. With more  than 90,000 joint  replacement procedures happening annually—requiring more  than $8.5 billion in annual hospital and surgeon charges—joint  replacement surgeries have a significant impact on Medicare and private payer  resources. The number of such surgeries is expected to rise over  the next  two  decades prompting health  care experts nationwide to call for a constant, transparent assessment  of the devices,  treatment protocols, surgical approaches and patient factors that influence outcomes.

The registry will help providers statewide fulfill that mission. The registry collects detailed case information on approximately 140 data elements related to performance, such as patient demographics and aspects  of clinical  and surgical care. The registry is one of the few in the nation that collects and reports feedback obtained directly from  patients concerning outcomes of their  hip and knee replacement surgeries.