• Cedars Sinai-Affiliated Center is one of only seven in the nation to achieve COE accreditation
• OutcomeMD's outcome tracking and reporting platform cited as significant contributor to designation status

LOS ANGELES, March 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cedars-Sinai Precision Ambulatory Surgery Center has become the first independent surgical center in California and only one of seven in the nation to receive a Center of Excellence designation for Spine Surgery by The Joint Commission (TJC), an independent, non-profit accreditation and certification organization.

The highest-volume spine center in the state, Precision has long been recognized for its excellent program. In conferring this new, unique status on Precision, TJC cited the center's ability to collect, track and act upon patient-reported outcomes – an ability it has achieved in partnership with OutcomeMD.

"This special recognition of the top accrediting body in the country is in part due to our relationship with OutcomeMD, which has allowed us to better collect and track patient-reported outcomes and to act upon them quickly," said Andy Ball, Chief Executive of Cedars-Sinai Beverly Hills ASC Venture, Precision's parent organization. "In its review of our Center of Excellence application, five of the 15 reasons cited for our status were related to OutcomeMD."

The first-ever outcome management and marketing system, Los Angeles-based OutcomeMD partnered with Precision to provide the surgical center with the capability to collect patient-reported outcomes. Using a fitness tracker-like experience, patients score and track their symptoms and monitor how they change over time.  Patients enjoy the experience, and the data helps doctors and surgery centers dial in best practices to know what does and does not work, resulting in better patient care and better outcomes.

In the first year of a two-year study, Precision dedicated resources to ensure 100% participation by patients in collecting satisfaction scores through OutcomeMD. Overall satisfaction scores started at 92% in February of 2021; for April through July that score jumped to 100%.

"Patients appreciate being able to track their outcomes and see how they improve following a surgery. Over time, symptom tracking becomes seamless for both the patient and provider, improving shared medical decision-making and contributing to improved outcomes," said Justin Saliman, M.D., CEO of OutcomeMD and an orthopedic surgeon himself. "We applaud Precision for this highly deserved distinction."

One factor in Precision's decision to pursue this accreditation was its desire to reduce or eliminate the use of narcotics and anesthesia in surgery and postoperatively, while ensuring high-quality, long-term outcomes for patients. OutcomeMD's tracking platform helped the center achieve those goals, while also tracking more traditional measures, such as surgical site infections and postoperative urinary retention.

OutcomeMD's powerful reporting and data collection tools also allow Precision to submit its data to national registries, one of TJC's requirements for Advanced Center of Excellence consideration, said Precision Administrator Benita Tapia.

"In order to participate in the American Spine Registry, specific data must be collected and structured. The patient reported outcomes data that OutcomeMD allows us to collect are an essential component," Tapia said. "This certification is a validation of our high-quality work, and OutcomeMD was critical in helping us to achieve this distinction and setting us up for success in obtaining other advanced certifications."

With OutcomeMD, Precision was able to comply with certification requirements, including:

• Compliance with consensus-based national standards.
• Effective and consistent use of appropriate, evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for the discectomy, laminectomy, and spinal fusion patient population.
• Collection and analysis of a minimum of four performance measures specific to the spinal surgery patient population (a minimum of two performance measures must be clinical in nature).

"With OutcomeMD, we exceeded TJC's expectations, with the surveyor naming OutcomeMD as a central contributor for five key points, including long-term tracking of patient-reported outcomes (PROs), patient engagement, notification system, peer review, and national reporting," Tapia said. "OutcomeMD gave us the ability to demonstrate that we have a system in place to continuously track patients' outcomes in both cervical and lumbar spine patients to conduct post-operative quality improvement studies.

"This distinction is a testament to our commitment to provide the highest-quality care possible to all of our patients," she said. "We are proud of this achievement and look forward to continuing our partnership with OutcomeMD to move the needle forward in improving patient care."

About Beverly Hills ASC Venture
Cedars-Sinai Precision Ambulatory Surgery Center is part of Beverly Hills ASC Venture, a Cedars-Sinai Hospital affiliate. In addition to Precision Ambulatory Surgery Center, Beverly Hills ASC Venture's operates three other ASCs: 90210 Surgical Medical Center, Linden Surgical Center and Spalding Triangle Surgery Center.  Its mission is to provide, cutting-edge, safe, high-quality care to its patients and their families in an affordable and efficient setting in the heart of Beverly Hills. Newsweek named ASC Venture's centers No. 2 Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers of 2022 in the U.S. For more information, visit http://beverlyhillsasc.com.

About OutcomeMD:
OutcomeMD is the first-ever outcome management and marketing system, capable of generating consistently high engagement from healthcare professionals and patients alike across all medical specialties. The OutcomeMD platform provides doctors with real-time data to improve patient care decisions. OutcomeMD also helps the clinician generate revenue for obtaining good outcomes, and in doing so shifts their treatment focus from patient catering to patient care. Complication rates and overutilization of healthcare resources decrease, and overall efficiency and effectiveness of care improve. The Los Angeles-based company is working with clinicians, health systems, surgical centers, clinics and hospitals across the United States. For more information, visit OutcomeMD.com.

SOURCE OutcomeMD