Rave Reviews

Rave-ReviewsFrom the Summer 2012 StayHealthy publication

The Center for Orthopedic Medicine is meeting with rave reviews from physicians and patients alike. The unit was designed around the patient, meaning access to its services are easier and more convenient than ever before.

It's about Convenience

Located on the third floor of Porter Regional Hospital, the Center encompasses 20 patient rooms, one bariatric room that can accommodate a person weighing up to 600 pounds who has had some type of orthopedic trauma, and all physical, occupational and speech therapy services. Typically, patients who are facing orthopedic surgery are probably experiencing some level of pain, so, in designing the hospital, care was taken to ensure those patients could get from place to place with as few steps as possible.

By suggesting that pre-admission testing and patient education be scheduled on the same day, patients can make fewer trips to the hospital. And, because the pre-admission testing area is located on the first floor just beneath the second-floor classroom, it will only require an elevator ride to get to the area. The Center's primary focus is patient education.

Another plus of the Center is the fact that the rehabilitative services orthopedic patients need while they are hospitalized are just down the hall from the patient rooms. So, when a patient is ready for therapy, they can walk to therapy with their therapist.

It's not just the physical layout of the hospital that addresses patient comfort and accessibility. Porter also offers valet parking at no cost.

Rave-Reviews-1It's about Expertise

Included in the Center for Orthopedic Medicine are Porter's award-winning Joint and Spine Care Programs. Both of these services have been recognized for our commitment to quality care, resulting in better outcomes for joint and spine surgery patients. These awards can be found on www.healthgrades.com to confirm that our patients are receiving nationally ranked, top quality care.

Even before Porter Regional Hospital was built, Porter was the first hospital in the region to offer minimally invasive hip replacement surgery. Now, physicians are performing the procedure in sophisticated operating rooms designed to better accommodate the specially designed equipment used in the surgery.

Porter has been leading the way in other types of surgeries as well. When replacing a knee, physicians are using MRI and a special computer program to see exactly where the implant should be placed. Typically, this results in less need for blood during the surgery, less post-operative pain, better range of motion and better recovery time.

Spine surgeons at Porter are also employing advanced surgical techniques, which are often less painful and can reduce the patient's hospital stay. Advances include the use of minimally invasive procedures and spinal implants.

Study shares how knee replacement can improve quality of life

New research suggests that, for some patients, knee replacement surgery is a potential avenue to improve your level of fitness, weight, cardiovascular health and mental health.

In a study of Medicare records, researchers from Philadelphia and Menlo Park, California, examined the effects of joint replacement among nearly 135,000 patients with new diagnoses of osteoarthritis of the knee from 1997 to 2009. About 54,000 opted for knee replacement; 81,000 did not.

Three years after diagnosis, the knee replacement patients had an 11 percent lower risk of heart failure. And after seven years, their risk of dying for any reason was 50 percent lower.