As we start a new year, we look forward to new opportunities to better serve our patients at the Joint Center. Making our patient/customer satisfaction our highest priority, we continue to refine the model that we have established. Trying to make the entire experience a very positive one, we look at all aspects of your care, starting with the moment you walk through the door at Valley Medical Center or dropping off your car at the valet parking outside the admitting area. The check-in, preop registration, and preop process are constantly being evaluated to better serve our patients. The coordination between surgeon, anesthesia, and nursing in the operating room is a highly interactive process, again with continual tweaking to the process. Those of you who have had surgery at the Joint Center know the nursing and therapy care after surgery is outstanding, and we continue to learn from each other how to improve our outcomes.
We look forward to beginning a study evaluating the results of our revision total knee replacements using metaphyseal sleeves and will report on that in 2013 after we have gathered the data with a group of surgeons from around the country. We continue to track our hip and knee replacement outcomes and look forward to introducing a new line of knee replacement options that will be available in 2012. Overall, there is a lot to be excited about, and we continue to look forward to improving the experience of those entrusting their care to us.
— William P. Barrett, MD
