NYC Hospital for Special Surgery's Best Practices Keep SSIs Lowest in State

Becker's ASC Review—September 3, 2010

The NYC Hospital for Special Surgery is the only New York hospital with a surgical site infection rate significantly lower than the state average for hip replacement for the second year in a row, according to a news release from the facility.

Surgeons at the Hospital for Special Surgery performed 15 percent of nearly 26,000 hip replacement procedures in New York State in 2009. In the news release, they offer seven best practices critical to the facility's SSI success:

1. All joint replacement procedures are performed quickly, in an average of one to two hours.

2. Regional anesthesia is used to reduce bleeding.

3. Operating room teams remain consistent to speed surgical time.

4. An infection prevention specialist is dedicated to the operating room.

5. Patients have minimal exposure to contaminants because they are isolated from the environment by a Plexiglas enclosure during surgery.

6. Post-surgery, operating rooms and instruments are meticulously cleaned.

7. Infection control department ensure that heightened standards are maintained.

Read the news release on the Hospital for Special Surgery's low infection rates.