Physicians at the Illinois Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Surgery Center in Morton Grove have completed the 500th joint replacement surgery at the center, according to ASC management company Regent Surgical Health.
The ASC specializes in total and partial knee and hip replacements. Physicians performed the first total joint procedure in 2015 after contracting with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois.
"The challenge initially for us was to get buy-in from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. But once we convinced them that we have high-caliber, well-trained surgeons doing this and that we were going to be very restrictive about patient selection, we won their confidence, and they agreed to enter into an amended contract with us. And then our other commercial payers followed suit," center administrator Larry Parrish told Regent.
Mr. Parrish said that he expects the ASC's total joint program to grow, given the CMS plan to cover the procedures in the outpatient setting.