Particularly good results for implantation and replacement of joint replacements /
Very high patient satisfaction
The Sportklinik Hellersen is one of the best clinics in the Westphalia-Lippe region. This is shown by the latest comparison of clinics by the health insurance provider AOK Nordwest. At the same time, however, the comparison also shows how great the differences in quality are between the hospitals in the region. 13 indications for plannable operations were scrutinized and the differences in quality are particularly serious in the case of knee prostheses.
Hospitals regularly publish quality reports on their range of services. However, these are difficult for patients to understand. With the clinic navigator, the AOK would like to offer patients transparency and help them choose the right clinic. Which clinic offers particularly high quality for a specific procedure? Where do complications and unplanned follow-up operations occur particularly rarely and where do they occur more frequently? The AOK has summarized all this data. The result: The Sportklinik Hellersen has above-average surgical results and a patient satisfaction rate of 88 percent for three of these indications. In comparison: the national average is 81 percent.
Comparison shows large differences in quality
Treatments with major differences in quality include the implantation of an artificial hip joint for osteoarthritis, joint replacement in the knee for osteoarthritis and knee prosthesis replacement. These are all indications in which the Sportklinik Hellersen demonstrates above-average quality, as the clinic navigator shows. The figures from the analysis show how different the results are. Out of 9,320 cases evaluated for artificial hip joints for osteoarthritis, the AOK attests that only 15 out of 104 clinic locations in Westphalia-Lippe have this above-average performance. For knee joint replacements for osteoarthritis, the figure is only 12 out of 93 clinics and for knee prosthesis replacements for non-bone fractures or infections, only 2 out of 25 clinics.
The major differences in the quality of treatment can be seen, among other things, in the fact that clinics with above-average performance require fewer unplanned follow-up operations compared to other hospitals offering the same service. While an average of 2.9 percent of knee prosthesis operations require revision surgery within a year, clinics with above-average quality require a maximum of 1.7 percent unplanned follow-up operations. The results analyzed by the AOK are based on around 137,000 knee replacement operations performed on AOK-insured patients between 2019 and 2021.
"These results show once again, as do numerous studies, that we are basically on the right track with the hospital reform towards specialization. And that, as a specialist clinic, we took the right path a long time ago. We are proud of our clinic and of being able to offer the people of the region such an outstanding service," says Dirk Burghaus, Chairman of the Management Board of Sportklinik Hellersen.
This is also underlined by the statement from Tom Ackermann, Chairman of the Board of AOK Nordwest: "It definitely makes sense to find out about the quality results and case numbers of the clinics in the surrounding area before planning operations and only then decide on a hospital."
The above-mentioned studies illustrate a decisive connection between the routine of the operating medical teams, their experience and the treatment results. Politicians at state and federal level also refer to this when it comes to the centralization of services. And even in the run-up to this reform, minimum volumes have already been set for some treatments. Since 2015, for example, a clinic has had to perform a minimum volume of 50 total knee replacements per year in order to be allowed to carry out this operation.
It is not only the AOK Nordwest that is impressed by the performance of the Sportklinik Hellersen, but also the patients themselves. According to the AOK Clinic Navigator, 88 percent of a total of 580 patient reviews recommend the Sportklinik Hellersen. The clinic is also above average for all three criteria included in this rating. These include medical care with 85 percent (national average 83 percent), nursing care with 85 percent (national average 82 percent) and organization and service with 80 percent (national average 77 percent). Overall, this results in an overall recommendation rate of 88%, compared to the national average of 81%.
Press contact
Sarah Burghaus
Head of Marketing & Communications, Press Officer
sarah.burghaus@hellersen.de
Marie Schulz
Marketing & Communications Officer
marie.schulz@hellersen.de
