Millions of Americans are currently living with hip and knee replacements. While replacement surgery can be a good option, it is not without risk. There can be serious complications. Consumer Reports has advice to help you improve the odds of a successful outcome.
Consumer Reports took a close look at hospitals in the San Diego area to see how well patients did following replacement surgery. It looked at hospitals’ infection rates, complication rates and readmission rates and found it really matters which hospital you go to.
For example: Sharp Grossmont Hospital had zero infections for knee surgeries while Pomerado Hospital—just 24 miles away—was one of the hospitals that got Consumer Reports’ bottom rating, 268 percent worse than the national average.
Consumer Reports reached out to Pomerado Hospital for a comment about its low rating, which is based on publicly available data from the State of California.
A spokesperson said: “We recognize the importance of preventing surgical site infections after knee replacement surgery and because we take this issue seriously, Pomerado Hospital uses stringent procedures to minimize the risk of infection."
Since this report based on 2014 rates, a physician-led multidisciplinary team at Pomerado Hospital has worked together to reduce post-surgical infection rate after knee replacements to only 1% by the end of 2015, which is consistent with the national average. The work of this team has been recognized by being awarded designation as an Orthopedic Center of Excellence. Pomerado Hospital’s Orthopedic Center of Excellence team continues their work with a goal of zero percent infection rate after these procedures and is in the top 1% nationally for its pain management program.”
Consumer Reports and the California Department of Insurance have created an online tool to help people check out hospitals. Just enter San Diego and you’ll see ratings on a scale of one to five. You can find the tool here.
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The website also has other helpful information. You can find out how much your surgery is likely to cost and look up hospital ratings for childbirth, as well as search doctor groups for their ratings for cancer screening, and treating diabetes and back pain.