The UPMC Health Plan recognized Kittanning, Pa.-based Armstrong Center for Medicine and Health Hospital as a hip and knee joint replacement center of excellence, according to the Kittanning Paper.

Total hip arthroplasty can be safely performed in both ASC and hospital outpatient settings, according to a study published in The Journal of Arthroplasty.

Here are five recent updates about outpatient total joint replacement:

Just 15 percent of the 900,000 hip and knee joint replacements performed in the U.S. in 2016 were done in an outpatient setting, but Sg2 researchers predict that percentage will rise dramatically — and soon.

Joint replacement outpatients are as happy, if not happier than, their inpatient counterparts, according to a survey presented at the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons Annual Meeting, March 12-16 in Las Vegas.

James Van Horne, MD, is an orthopedic surgeon focused exclusively on total joint replacements. He performs around 500 to 600 cases per year and one-third of his patients are commercial insurance beneficiaries; the remaining are Medicare or Medicaid beneficiaries.

CMS' proposal to add total knee arthroplasty to the ASC covered procedures list in 2020 is "long overdue," according to Michael Gillman, MD, CMO and founder of Las Vegas-based BullsEye Ortho.

CVS plans to launch a pilot program this summer to help Aetna knee replacement surgery patients with care before and after their procedures, an Aetna spokesperson confirmed to Becker's ASC Review.

Becker's ASC Review reported on the opening or expansion of three ASCs offering orthopedics services in July:

Orthopedic surgeons who specialize in hand surgery or sports medicine have worked in Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC) for a long time.

Flowood, Miss.-based Capital Ortho clinicians performed a partial knee replacement using the Navio robotic system.

The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses outlined key steps to establishing an outpatient total joint program. Here are three of them:

Total joint and spine center developer MUVE Health partnered with digital health joint venture Quil to reduce cost and improve outcomes for total joint replacement surgery.

Surgeons at Southern Colorado's largest orthopedic practice are now using a robotic arm for total knee replacement surgery.

Orthopedists have one of the highest starting salaries for physicians, and generate over $3 million for hospitals, according to surveys conducted by physician search firm Merritt Hawkins.

Surgeons at Spectrum Orthopaedics in North Canton, Ohio, have been performing total joints for about four years, according to Michael Lykins, DO, and Tim Conlan, MD, who discussed the program on LiveonLakeside.

McMinnville, Ore.-based Willamette Valley Medical Center’s Joint Replacement Institute of Oregon program has earned The Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval for advanced certification for total hip and total knee replacements.

Seven surgery centers recently announced a milestone number of total joint replacements:

Medical technology company Conformis has entered into a partnership focusing on outpatient joint replacements with ASC developer Regent Surgical Health.

Joleen Harrison, BSN, RN, is administrative director at Mankato (Minn.) Surgery Center, a multispecialty, freestanding ASC with 32 surgeons and four operating rooms.