Total Joint Replacement

Three decades of research have consistently demonstrated that patients who have their high-risk surgery performed at a hospital and by a surgeon that have more experience with the procedure have better outcomes, including lower mortality rates, lower complication rates, and a shorter length of stay, than patients who have their surgery done at a hospital or by a surgeon with less experience.

Based on the research by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Michigan Medicine, and Johns Hopkins Medicine, as well as guidance from Leapfrog’s national expert panel, Leapfrog has identified two total joint replacement procedures for which there is a strong volume-outcome relationship.

The procedures with their corresponding minimum hospital volumes and minimum annual surgeon volumes for privileging are shown in the table below.