VCU Orthopaedic Services Receive Blue Distinction Award

By Malorie Burkett

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield has designated the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center as a Blue Distinction Center for Spine Surgery and a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip Replacement.

Blue Distinction is a designation awarded by Blue Cross Association to medical facilities that have demonstrated expertise in delivering quality health care.

“The VCU Medical Center is proud to have the Blue Distinction Center designation in all six areas of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s Blue Distinction program,” said Sheldon Retchin, M.D., CEO of the VCU Health System. “These designations speak directly to the high quality and consistent care we provide our patients every day.”

The designation of a Blue Distinction Center is based on rigorous, evidence-based selection criteria established in collaboration with leading clinicians, medical societies and professional organizations.

These two programs join the medical center’s other Blue Distinction Centers for complex and rare cancers, transplants, cardiac care and bariatric surgery.

“Blue Distinction puts a high value on research and evidence-based health and medical information,” said Dr. Allan Kom, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association’s chief medical officer. “Blue Distinction Centers show our commitment to working with doctors and hospitals in communities across the country to identify leading institutions that meet clinically validated quality standards and deliver better overall outcomes in patient care.”

The VCU Medical Center provides comprehensive inpatient knee and hip replacement services, including total knee and total hip replacement surgeries, and comprehensive inpatient spine surgery services, including discectomy, fusion and decompression procedures.

These services are provided through the nationally recognized Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, which recently was ranked the 45th top orthopaedic program in the country by U.S.News & World Report.

“We strive to provide the highest level of patient care reflective of the sophisticated techniques and cutting-edge research offered at the VCU Medical Center,” said Robert Adelaar, M.D., professor and chair of Orthopaedic Surgery. “Our expert physicians and nurse managers use a multidisciplinary approach to provide patients with the most appropriate and advanced treatments available.”

For more information about the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, visit www.orthopaedics.vcu.edu or call 804-828-5674.