Boston-based Beth Israel Lahey Health launched an initiative Dec. 11 to adopt New England Baptist Hospital's orthopedic model of care at its community hospitals, the Boston Globe reports.
Seven things to know:
1. The initiative will expand New England Baptist Hospital's best practices for hospital-based hip and knee replacement surgeries and spine operations to Beverly (Mass.) Hospital and Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport, Mass.
2. As part of the collaboration, Boston-based New England Baptist surgeons shared protocols for providing care before, during and after joint replacement surgery, as well as for reducing risks in patients with chronic conditions.
3. Beverly and Anna Jaques will rebrand their orthopedic surgery programs under the New England Baptist name.
4. By leveraging New England Baptist's expertise and resources, Beth Israel Lahey executives hope to draw more patients to the system's community hospitals for joint replacement procedures. Anna Jaques' surgeons currently perform about 500 joint replacements a year.
5. Down the line, the initiative will expand to include additional surgeries and hospitals in Beth Israel Lahey's system.
6. This is the first clinical program Beth Israel Lahey Health has launched since it became the state's second-largest health system through a merger in March. Other clinical collaborations involving behavioral health, women and infant care, and cancer care are in the pipeline.
7. New England Baptist Hospital is focused on expanding its outpatient surgery program to offset a recent decline in orthopedic surgery volume caused by procedures migrating to outpatient settings.