A government analysis by Medicare has compiled an official list of the best and worst hospitals for knee and hip replacement surgery, based on the institutions found to have the most injury reports by elderly patients. The rankings were based on how often a hospital’s patients were readmitted within 30 days of discharge, and looked at how often patients suffered serious complications after the operation, such as a blood clot, infection, problem with the artificial joint or death.

This list includes 95 hospitals with the worst injury statistics, and 97 hospitals where the injuries were least reported. The judging occurred over the period between July 2009 and June 2012.

The government compiled this list because knee and hip replacements are prominent medical issues faced by the elderly community. Additionally, these injury reports reflect on the Medicare division of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This agency is using this list as a reference point for patients, as well as a reflection of what needs to be improved in America’s hospitals.

This analyzed data will be available on Medicare’s Hospital Compare website, which allows potential patients and consumers to look through a database comparing hospitals on various merits to help consumers pick which hospital is most suited to their needs.

Hospitals Judged Best & Worst for Knee & Hip Replacement Complications

Out of the 95 hospitals the study identified as having the poorest outcome statistics based on readmission and complication rates, the nine worst hospitals were:

• Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, Wis.
• Grant Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio
• Mercy St. Anne Hospital in Toledo, Ohio
• Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Ill.
• Pennsylvania Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia, Pa.
• Peterson Regional Medical Center in Kerrville, Texas
• Reston Hospital Center in Reston, Va.
• Shannon Medical Center in San Angelo, Texas
• Southside Regional Medical Center in Petersburg, Va.

The 97 hospitals which were ranked as best for hip replacement surgery outcomes were selected based on the lack of complication reports and readmission rates. Kaiser Health News has published an official list of the best and worst hospitals for hip and knee replacement surgery, identified by CMS. The hospitals included in this were large facilities and specialty clinics, such as:

• Sutter General Hospital in Sacramento, Calif.
• Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, N.Y.
• Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
• Arkansas Surgical Hospital in Little Rock, Ark.

The data the analysis observed included the likelihood of knee and hip replacement complications and past data records of the hospitals. The primary source observed the results of Medicare beneficiaries 65 or older, as well as the rates of the individual hospitals to the United States national hip and knee complication rate. Some of the hospitals that made the negative list complained that CMS used data from as far back as 2009 and stated that their hospitals had made significant improvements in the quality of care since then.

Hip Replacement Complications Lead to Thousands of Lawsuits

The data provided by Medicare is especially important considering the expanding litigation involving metal on metal hip implants.

Complications from hip replacement surgery aren’t always the hospital’s fault — numerous manufacturers of metal on metal hip implants have issued recalls of their devices following reports of early device failure and complications caused by metal ions leaking into the blood and surrounding issue, causing tissue death, pseudotumors, metal blood poisoning and more.

At this time, there are thousands of hip replacement lawsuits being processed in the American litigation system. Most report mechanical complications from the devices, pain and suffering, infection, and even blood metal poisoning, or metallosis. Metallosis occurs when the metal ions corrode off the product as the patient moves the ball-and-socket joint against each other. This causes the metal ions to be released into the blood, leading to the reported complications.