The Joint Commission has awarded Beebe Healthcare with a Certification for its Spine Surgery Program. The Joint Commission is an independent organization that accredits and certifies health care organizations and programs throughout the nation.

 This disease-specific certification means that the Spine Surgery Program has met the highest national standards and guidelines that can significantly improve outcomes for spine surgery patients.

 The Joint Commission issues a certification only after an on-site review is carried out that assesses the hospital’s commitment to excellence in providing disease-specific services in a comprehensive manner. The Joint Commission examines the hospital’s performance improvement measures and initiatives, programs, organization, leadership and patient outcomes. Representatives scrutinize hospital procedures to make sure they meet best practice guidelines established by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses. They examine individual patient cases and interview Beebe team members and Spine surgery patients.

“We are extremely proud to have earned this certification and commend our team at Beebe,” says Steven Rhone, RN, BSN, MS, NE-BC, Vice President of Patient Care Services at Beebe Healthcare. “This reflects the combined efforts and commitment to our patients and to achieving the standards of quality that are based on best practice guidelines by the surgeons, the surgical teams, those in the Orthopaedic Department, as well as to all of our healthcare professionals involved in the care of spine surgery patients.”

The Spine Surgery Program at Beebe takes a comprehensive approach to patient care and effectively integrates evidence-based clinical practices. Once the patient and surgeon have agreed upon surgery, the patient is referred to Beebe’s free, pre-spine surgery education class to prepare him or her for the surgery and what to expect during and after surgery. Beebe’s four orthopaedic surgeons who perform spine surgery and their surgical teams are specially trained in spine surgery procedures. Following the surgery, the orthopaedic nurses and physical therapists make sure the patients have a successful recovery. The recuperation program often includes the use of a variety of medical technologies that help to control pain and swelling.

Beebe Healthcare has received national recognition for its Surgery and Orthopaedic programs. For the third year in a row (2012-2013-2014), Beebe was named one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopaedic Surgery, Joint Replacement, and Spine Surgery, according to a report from Healthgrades, a provider of information designed to help consumers decide which physicians or hospitals to choose.

 In 2013, Consumers Reports said that Beebe was the safest hospital in Delaware to have a surgery. In the September 2013 Issue of Consumer Reports magazine, 2,463 U.S. acute-care or critical-access hospitals are rated according to how well Medicare patients 65 years of age and older fared following surgery between 2009 and 2011. The ratings consider how well hospitals avoided adverse events that lead either to patients staying longer in the hospital for a procedure than expected, or to patients dying.  Medicare claims data from 27 categories of common surgeries was analyzed.

Consumer Reports gave five ratings signified by a range of clear and colored circles: the highest; above average; average; below average and the worst. Beebe received the only above-average rating in Delaware. Details can be found on the website: www.ConsumerReports.org/hospitalratings, where the question is asked, “How Safe is Your Hospital?” A subscription is necessary to view the full report.

Beebe Healthcare is a not-for-profit community healthcare system with a charitable mission to encourage healthy living, prevent illness, and restore optimal health for the people residing, working, or visiting in the communities we serve. It offers services throughout Southern Delaware including a 210-licensed-bed hospital, a cancer center, and outpatient facilities at multiple sites providing walk-in care, lab, imaging, and physical rehab services.  For more information, please visit us online at www.beebehealthcare.org