What you need to know about the Reid Health Comprehensive Bone & Joint Center

Over the past few years, specialists at Reid Health have collaborated on a project aimed at improving perioperative care for patients undergoing joint replacement surgery. Their work would ensure all patients needing orthopedic care could fully understand the risks and benefits of going through with surgery.

"We've developed an exceptional collaborative relationship with our orthopedic group," said Annuradha Bhandari, MD, Medical Director of Perioperative Care for Reid Health. "Practices are typically in silos, but we broke those down and put together an approach that makes our patients successful."

With this working relationship in place, patients have a greater awareness of risk factors and are more knowledgeable about the surgery process, which leads them to having greater success after their procedure because they've been fully prepared for what comes next.

For example, it's important for patients to have their blood sugar under control before surgery because high blood sugar presents a greater risk for infection. The care team assesses every possible pre-existing condition that might influence surgery outcomes, including being overweight.

To give patients a greater likelihood of post-surgery success, they could receive nutritional counseling and work with the physical therapists in Reid's Surgery Fit program to address any risk factors before their procedure.

This process means surgeons are no longer deciding by themselves whether a patient is ready to undergo a procedure. Instead, they work with a team of perioperative staff to evaluate the individual beforehand, so everyone is in the know about next steps.

The role of the patient

Patients should be willing to ask questions about the procedure and whether it's safe for them to undergo the surgery at their age/health status.

"Some patients really needed the extra push and the extra education to prepare them," Dr. Bhandari said.

"We don't proceed unless the patient's ready," said Joel McClurg, MD, Chair of Musculoskeletal Services at Reid. "We're trying to change hearts and minds for patients and help them find the motivation to lead their best life."

With this collaborative method, patients can take control of their life and change certain aspects of their lifestyle, working with their perioperative care team to design a detailed list of solutions to the problem at hand.

"We start thinking about how we can optimize a patient before they're ever really a surgical candidate," Dr. McClurg said. "We make a 'wellness prescription' for them that we hope they can follow in the future, so their entire life is better overall."

The role of the specialist

The specialist works with different departments to ensure every part of the procedure is working efficiently for the benefit of the patient. The result of this hard work and collaboration has been nothing short of incredible for all involved.

"When we put these mechanisms in place, the duration of recovery was shorter too," Dr. Bhandari said. "They were recovering and moving a lot sooner than patients who didn't have these measures put into place."

To learn more about the ways Reid Health Comprehensive Bone & Joint Center has included Perioperative Care as a crucial step in patient care, listen to our podcast here! To request an appointment with Reid Health Comprehensive Bone & Joint Center, visit our page here.