In 2019 , more than 1.2 million hip and knee replacement surgeries were performed in the United States — a number that continues to rise and is expected to steadily grow over the next decade .

In that same year , research by UnitedHealth Group that looked into the safety and cost savings associated with ambulatory surgery

centers ( ASCs ) found that if half of routine hip and knee replacements performed in hospitals on an inpatient basis were moved to ASCs :

• More than 500,000 surgery patients each year would avoid staying overnight in a hospital .

• $ 3 billion would be saved annually .

The research went on to say that ASCs with established joint replacement programs are operating safe , scalable models that achieve high-quality results for knee and hip replacement surgeries by relying on specialization , repetition , scale and other key elements , including :

• Care pathways specific to joint

replacement patients to help ensure each component of the surgical intervention — including preoperative preparation and post-discharge planning — is optimally defined , sequenced and executed .

• Physicians operating with teams consisting of their preferred surgical technicians and nurses .

• Operating rooms customized for surgeons and their teams . 1

A new kind of partnership It ’ s an outpatient model that Surgical Investors & Advisors ( SIA ), a leader in hospital-physician joint ventures based in Alpharetta , GA , and Medline are evolving into best practice . Together , they are partnering to create total joint centers of excellence that produce higher quality outcomes for more patients without the financial and operational constraints associated with large multi-specialty outpatient facilities .

“ If you look back at how hospitals moved into the ASC space , there was the tendency to recreate the hospital environment in a freestanding setting ,” explains Robert Wildmon , Senior Vice President of Operations for SIA . “ These were large facilities with too many specialties , causing ORs to be underutilized and cre-