Saint Mary’s Earns Blue Distinction® Center Designation

Saint Mary’s has earned Blue Distinction® Center Designation for Hip and Knee Replacement and Bariatric Surgery.

Blue Distinction Centers are nationally designated health care facilities recognized for delivering improved patient safety based on objective measures developed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies in collaboration with the medical community.

The Hip and Knee Replacement Blue Distinction Center designation for orthopedics recognizes Saint Mary’s demonstration of expertise in total hip and total knee replacement procedures and achieving strong performance in outcomes, complications, readmissions and patient care processes. The Bariatric Surgery Blue Distinction Center designation recognizes Saint Mary’s comprehensive weight-loss surgery services, including pre-operative evaluation, surgery, post-operative care, follow-up and patient education, while maintaining strong quality and safety performance.

"Receiving Blue Distinction Center designations for both Hip and Knee Replacement and Bariatric Surgery is a significant achievement that reflects our unwavering commitment to quality, patient safety and clinical excellence,” said Stephanie Nelson, MSN, RN, CPHQ, Clinical Director of Quality and Patient Safety for Community Hospitals, Trinity Health Of New England. “These national recognitions are a testament to the expertise, compassion, and dedication of our multidisciplinary care teams, who work every day to deliver exceptional outcomes and experiences for our patients."

Saint Mary’s receiving these designations signals:

• High-quality clinical outcomes
• Strong patient safety performance
• Expertise in the specialty area
• Recognition by a national payer organization
• Potentially increased referrals and preferred status within some health plans

For 20 years, the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program has helped patients identify quality providers for specialty services including bariatric surgery, cardiac care, complex and rare cancers, knee and hip replacements, maternity care, spine surgery and transplants. The program also encourages continuous improvement among health care organizations by recognizing excellence in clinical quality and patient outcomes.