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The Washington DC VA Medical Center earned the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for Advanced Total Hip and Knee Replacement Certification by demonstrating continuous compliance with

its performance standards. The Gold Seal is a symbol of quality that reflects the medical center’s commitment to providing safe and quality patient care. Katharine Harper, M.D., Director of

Adult Reconstruction, said this accreditation should matter to Veterans who suffer from arthritis and may need a joint replacement.  “This should send a clear message that VA health care is

just as good, if not better, than our counterparts outside of the VA,” said Harper. “Hip and knee replacements are some of the most common elective surgeries in the United States, and we

perform hundreds every year at the DC VA. Now, our governing bodies have recognized how well we do it.” The certification, offered in collaboration with the American Academy of Orthopaedic

Surgeons, focuses on the pre-surgical orthopedic consultation to the intraoperative, hospitalization or ambulatory surgical center admission, rehabilitation activities, and follow-up visit

with the orthopedic surgeon. The Washington DC VA Medical Center underwent a rigorous onsite review to receive it. “We are only the second VA in the nation to earn this accreditation, and we

did it after completely overhauling the program just three years ago, in 2019,” said Harper. “We set out to modernize the way we care for Veterans and this certification proves that we have

done that. Our number of successful joint replacements back that up.” The Chief Operating Officer, Accreditation and Certification Operations at the Joint Commission, Mark Pelletier,

praised the Washington DC VA Medical Center for their dedication to patient’s success before, during and after a hip or knee replacement. “Advanced Total Hip and Knee Replacement

Certification recognizes health care organizations committed to fostering continuous quality improvement in patient safety and quality of care,” said Pelletier. “We commend the Washington DC

VA Medical Center for using certification to reduce variation in its clinical processes and to strengthen its program structure and management framework for orthopedic patients.” For more

information, please visit The Joint Commission website.