Bringing Premier Quality Care to Patients: INOV8 Surgical Is Awarded the AAAHC’s Advanced Orthopaedic Certification for Total Joint Replacement

INOV8 Surgical at Memorial City has earned one of the highest accolades in patient care — the AAAHC’s Advanced Orthopaedic Certification (AOC) for Total Joint Replacement.

The ambulatory surgery center in Houston, Texas is the only center in Texas to be granted the recommendation which highlights superior standards and a premier quality patient environment.

The AAAHC AOC certification provides ambulatory health care facilities with relevant standards and education for improvement of the patient care environment. AAAHC standards reflect proven developments in medicine, technology, and specialty practice.

The surgical team at INOV8 Surgical is led by Stefan Kreuzer, MD, who is board certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and completed an adult joint reconstruction fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Kreuzer specializes in minimally invasive and computer-assisted hip and knee replacement. He is an innovator in orthopedic medicine and assists medical technology companies in the design and development of new surgical equipment.

Dr. Kreuzer said he was delighted to receive the accolade. “We strive to provide the highest level of care and a premier quality of service in everything we do at INOV8 Surgical. It is a testament to the entire team’s efforts that we have been awarded the AAAHC’s Advanced Orthopaedic Certification.”

The surgeons at INOV8 Surgical are all highly trained and leaders in their respective fields. Each member of the team utilizes his or her extensive training and knowledge to provide successful outcomes for each procedure they perform on a patient.

Teri O’Laughlin, RN, CASC, and CEO at INOV8 Surgical said, “It was a year in the making. The standards set by the AAAHC challenged us to take our existing top level standards and implement ongoing performance improvement strategies as well as evidence-based clinical practice guidelines to achieve the Advanced Orthopaedic Certification. So it was quite an honor to be granted the certification.”

The AAAHC Philosophy

AAAHC’s philosophy of “1095 Strong, quality every day” provides ongoing engagement with ambulatory organizations throughout the three-year accreditation cycle with valuable and meaningful tools, resources and education to continually improve the quality of care.

The Advanced Orthopaedic Certification Process

According to the AAAHC, the Advanced Orthopaedic Certification (AOC) program assesses an organization’s use of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, ongoing performance improvement strategies, and an organizational infrastructure that promotes excellence. Through an onsite survey conducted by clinical surveyors experienced in the ambulatory orthopaedic setting, this program provides a comprehensive focus on transitions of care from pre-assessment through discharge and rehabilitation. AAAHC created the program with feedback and insight from an expert panel comprised of orthopaedic surgeons, anesthesiologists, orthopaedic nurses, physical therapists, quality experts, and payers.

To begin the AOC process in the total joint replacement specialty, a surgery center must have completed a minimum volume of 50 procedures and maintain a median number of 50 procedures per year. In a typical month, INOV8 Surgical completes on average 60 total joint replacement procedures, significantly above the requirement.

As part of the AOC certification process, INOV8 Surgical became a participant in the American Joint Replacement Registry of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. The joint registry tracks total joint replacement procedures and measures patient outcomes over a long period of time. This enables INOV8 Surgical to analyze what they are doing right and what they can improve upon, as well as how patients are doing long term, rather than just a week after surgery.

The Advanced Orthopedic Certification signifies that the center focuses on care that offers the critical elements to long-term success in improving patient outcomes.

More About INOV8 Surgical at Memorial City

INOV8 Surgical is a top ambulatory surgery center (ASC) in Houston, Texas, specializing in outpatient total joint (knee and hip) replacement procedures. The center uses advanced technological innovations and gold standard infection control practices to ensure the highest level of patient care available and remains a cost-effective choice.

The facility specializes in same-day total hip and knee replacement. The center launched in 2019 and has been considered a trendsetter in the ambulatory surgery center field for total joint replacements.

O’Laughlin added, “When we opened, it was our aim to launch a same-day total joint replacement center that provides phenomenal care, even better quality than you would find in a hospital, with exceptional patient outcomes.

“We also place an emphasis on being able to offer value to our patients at the center. Health care costs in the United States are extremely high and it was important to us to be able to offer options to patients. We believe this is just one of the aspects that sets us apart from a typical ASC.”

Cutting Edge Technology

INOV8 Surgical utilizes robotics to perform its surgeries and has several different surgical robots available for procedures.

O’Laughlin says, “It’s exceptional to have this kind of technology available. You typically will not see robotics in an ASC setting. So that’s another factor that really makes us special.”

INOV8 Surgical uses the OMNIBotics® systems and an OMNIBot® to perform total knee arthroplasty. These tools are the latest advancements in navigation and robotic technology and can provide highly accurate positioning of the prosthetic knee as well as computer-aided guidance for femoral cutting. It is the only technology to include a robotic soft tissue tension device that can plan implant positioning with predictive balance tools.

The TSolution One® Total Knee Application is another type of highly advanced surgery planning software and robotic-assisted surgery tool used at INOV8 Surgical. The tool allows surgeons to expertly perform total knee arthroplasty using pre-surgical planning software and an active surgical robot to prepare the patient’s anatomy for the exact placement of the prosthetic knee joint.

To enable knee replacements with as close a fit as possible, the Bodycad revolutionary Unicompartmental Knee System can create highly customized, patient-specific knee replacement implants.

INOV8 Surgical also employs cutting-edge technology for hip replacements, such as Corin OPS™. The specialized imaging technology enables surgeons to plan and design total hip replacement surgery for each patient’s individual anatomy.

The center also has Intellijoint HIP® which is a 3D miniature optical navigation device that provides accurate, real-time measurements during surgery to ensure proper selection and positioning of a hip implant.

Superior Infection Control Standards

INOV8 Surgical prioritizes infection control and hygiene standards, following protocols that are above average for an ambulatory surgery center.

The surgical gloves used are individually tested (not batch tested) by the manufacturer and are of the highest grade used for surgery.

The center’s operating rooms have a higher-than-average air exchange in the HVAC system to keep the environment as germ-free as possible. While most ambulatory surgery centers are required to have 20 exchanges an hour, the INOV8 Surgical facility has 30 air exchanges per hour. The center also has a blue UV light filtering system in the ductwork that helps prevent microbial growth.

Additionally, patients and visitors undergo a health screening before they enter the facility.

As a result of these protocols and an acute focus on infection control in the operating room, the center has an infection rate of less than 0.1%, which is much lower than a hospital, where infection rates are typically around 1.5-2.5%.

Dedicated to Compassionate Patient Care

INOV8 Surgical typically carries out five to eight surgeries a day versus a hospital which can do 50 to 100 surgeries a day. As a result the center can provide very personalized care.

As soon as a patient has been scheduled they participate in an online platform that allows them to enter their personal information and their medical history. Then they are scheduled for a Zoom call which is known as “Total Joint Boot Camp.” It’s an hour-long video call for multiple patients at one time where they receive information from the nursing staff as well as the anesthesiologist. They learn what to expect from the entire process from beginning to end, as well as what happens after surgery. They learn how to prepare for surgery and how to prepare their family. Including the patient’s support person or family member, whoever is going to be their “coach,” is a very important part of the process.

Once patients arrive at INOV8 Surgical, they are looked after personally and have one specific nurse in recovery, as opposed to having different nurses facilitating care.

“Unlike hospitals that are typically very busy, we offer a calm, personalized experience for both the patient and their family. This sets us apart and provides an optimal environment for a successful total joint replacement experience,” said O’Laughlin.

“The personalized care that we provide is something we are incredibly proud of.”

AAAHC is the leading accreditor of ambulatory health care organizations in the United States. The AAAHC provides an external, independent review of a health care delivery organization against nationally recognized standards and its own policies, procedures, processes, and outcomes.