Saddleback Memorial Medical Center Honored by Anthem Blue Cross for Superior Expertise, Improved Patient Safety and Better Outcomes

Laguna Hills, CA, May 18, 2016 --(PR.com)-- Anthem Blue Cross has honored Saddleback Memorial Medical Center’s orthopedic program and selected the hospital as a Blue Distinction Center+ for Spine Surgery, and for Knee and Hip Replacement, part of the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. Blue Distinction Centers are nationally designated healthcare facilities shown to deliver improved patient safety and better health outcomes, based on objective measures that were developed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies with input from the medical community.

“Quality is key,” said Susan Roof, Director of Rehabilitation Services at Saddleback Memorial. “Only those facilities that first meet nationally established, objective quality measures are considered for designation as a Blue Distinction Center+. We’re extremely proud to be recognized among the best in the country.”

Hospitals, like Saddleback Memorial, that are designated as Blue Distinction Centers+ for Spine Surgery demonstrate expertise in cervical and lumbar fusion, cervical laminectomy and lumbar laminectomy/discectomy procedures, resulting in fewer patient complications and hospital readmissions compared to other hospitals.

Knee and hip replacement procedures are among the fastest growing medical treatments in the U.S. As a designated Blue Distinction Centers+ for Knee and Hip Replacement, Saddleback Memorial demonstrates expertise in total knee and hip replacement surgeries, resulting in fewer patient complications and hospital readmissions. Blue Distinction Centers+ are, on average, 20 percent more cost-efficient in an episode of care compared to other hospitals.

Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program has helped patients find quality providers for their specialty care needs in the areas of bariatric surgery, cardiac care, complex and rare cancers, knee and hip replacements, maternity care, spine surgery, and transplants, while encouraging healthcare professionals to improve the care they deliver.

For more information about the program and for a complete listing of the designated facilities, please visit www.bcbs.com/bluedistinction.

Saddleback Memorial’s Award Winning Care

Saddleback Memorial is continually honored for exceptional medical expertise that offers high quality, compassionate care for patients and families at every stage of their lives. For the second consecutive year, Saddleback Memorial Medical Center has been named as one of only 1 percent of the 4,500 hospitals nationwide to receive the Healthgrades 2016 America’s 50 Best Hospitals Award™. In addition, the hospital received Becker’s Healthcare Top U.S. Hospitals and American Heart Association Get with the Guidelines highest honor—Gold Plus for cardiac and stroke care. The hospital has also been voted the #1 Hospital in Orange County in the Orange County Register’s “Best of OC’s People’s Choice & Critics’ Picks” for the last two consecutive years.

Saddleback Memorial’s centers of excellence are renowned for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, heart disease, stroke, pulmonary disease, orthopedics and diabetes; and for leadership in emergency medicine, critical care medicine, breast health, outpatient rehabilitation, advanced imaging, women’s health, geriatric care and surgery, including robotic-assisted procedures.

The hospital’s orthopedic specialist team focus on the diagnosis, care and treatment of patients with disorders of the musculoskeletal system: bones, joints, muscles, ligaments and tendons. The specialists at Saddleback Memorial are recognized locally in Southern California and nationally for their expertise in orthopedics and sports medicine.

Saddleback Memorial has earned the coveted “Best Hospitals” ranking in orthopedics by U.S. News & World Report, the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Center of Distinction for Knee and Hip Replacement and also the Aetna Institutes of Quality designation for knee and hip replacements.

About MemorialCare Health System
MemorialCare Health System is a nonprofit integrated delivery system that includes six top hospitals – Long Beach Memorial, Miller Children's & Women's Hospital Long Beach, Community Hospital Long Beach, Orange Coast Memorial, and Saddleback Memorial Laguna Hills and San Clemente; medical groups – MemorialCare Medical Group and Greater Newport Physicians; a health plan – Seaside Health Plan; and numerous outpatient health centers, imaging centers, surgery centers and dialysis centers throughout the Southland (Orange County and Los Angeles County). For more information, visit memorialcare.org.

About Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is a national federation of 36 independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that collectively provide healthcare coverage for nearly 105 million members – one-in-three Americans. For more information on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and its member companies, please visit bcbs.com. We encourage you to connect with us on Facebook, check out our videos on YouTube, follow us on Twitter and check out The BCBS Blog, for up-to-date information about BCBSA.

About Blue Distinction Centers

Blue Distinction Centers (BDC) met overall quality measures for patient safety and outcomes, developed with input from the medical community. A Local Blue Plan may require additional criteria for facilities located in its own service area; for details, contact your Local Blue Plan. Blue Distinction Centers+ (BDC+) also met cost measures that address consumers’ need for affordable health care. Each facility’s cost of care is evaluated using data from its Local Blue Plan. Facilities in CA, ID, NY, PA, and WA may lie in two Local Blue Plans’ areas, resulting in two evaluations for cost of care; and their own Local Blue Plans decide whether one or both cost of care evaluation(s) must meet BDC+ national criteria. National criteria for BDC and BDC+ are displayed on bcbs.com. Individual outcomes may vary. For details on a provider’s in-network status or your own policy’s coverage, contact your Local Blue Plan and ask your provider before making an appointment. Neither Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association nor any Blue Plans are responsible for non-covered charges or other losses or damages resulting from Blue Distinction or other provider finder information or care received from Blue Distinction or other providers.