Littleton, NH – Littleton Regional Healthcare (LRH) and Dr. Dougald MacArthur, orthopaedic surgeon are among the top ranked Hospitals and orthopaedic surgeons for the Lowest 30 Day Readmission Rates for Hip & Knee Replacement Surgeries in New Hampshire. Dexur (research firm that conducts exclusive data, news and research for healthcare across the US) analyzed Jan 2018 to Dec 2019 Medicare claims data to rank hospitals’ 30 Day Readmission Rates for Hip & Knee Replacement Surgeries.
A hospital readmission occurs when a patient who had previously been discharged is admitted back into the hospital within 30 days. Readmission rates are used as an outcome measure in hospital research as a quality of care benchmark. At LRH we work hard to seek opportunities to keep the rate of readmissions low by optimizing transitions of care for each patient; carefully identifying the cause of hospital readmissions when they occur and improving patient education – while striving to eliminate preventable cause of readmissions. LRH and Alpine provide extensive education to best prepare pre-operative patients who are planning joint replacement surgery. The surgical services team has found this to be quite effective.
Koren Superchi, RN, MSN and VP of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer at LRH states, “The team work and effectiveness between our surgical services team and case management coupled with our bedside nursing care positively impacts our patient care resulting in improved patient experience and outcomes.”
Dr. Dougald F. MacArthur, orthopaedic surgeon at Alpine and LRH is recognized as the top 25 in NH for hip and knee replacement; top 25 in Vermont for hip and knee replacement; and top 1 in Essex, VT for hip and knee replacement. Dr. Eric Mullins, Dr. Jean Langevin and Dr. Jeffrey Kaufmann are all listed as top operating physicians in orthopeadics for Littleton Regional Healthcare.
Dr. MacArthur stated, “We have worked hard to make improvements to our surgical techniques as well post-operative care allowing patients to return home sooner and healthier which decreases readmissions.”