By: Jeffrey Maser  Feb. 05, 2018

• Dr. Mark Hamilton is the lead anesthesiologist for the Fast Track Joint Program at Northside Hospital Forsyth, which accounted for the lowest average hospital length of stay in the U.S. for hip and knee replacements in 2016 at 0.64 days.
• In a recent interview with Dr. Hamilton, he discussed how Northside Hospital - Forsyth gets hip and knee replacement patients in and out of the hospital in under two thirds of a day, without compromising other quality metrics.
• Dr. Hamilton explains that a “robust multimodal program,” combined with patient preparation and education along with excellent surgical & care teams and staff are keys to the hospital’s success.

By: Saparja Nag  Jan. 09, 2018

In a prior analysis, Dexur analysts had found that Northside Hospital Forsyth had the highest revenue per day for DRG-470. In a follow up analysis, this revenue per day was achieved despite having a lower than average Medicare payment per discharge. Medicare compensates hospitals on a per case basis depending on the DRG of each hospitalization. DRG-470 is “Major Joint Replacement Or Reattachment Of Lower Extremity Without Major Complication Or Comorbidity” which typically refers to hip and knee replacements without major complications or comorbidities.

By: Jeffrey Maser  Jan. 03, 2018

A recent Dexur study on 2016 hip and knee replacement data from U.S. Medicare shows that Northside Hospital – Forsyth in Cumming, Georgia saw their patients experience the shortest average length of stay among all U.S. hospitals at a mere 0.65 days. Only three other hospitals reported an average length of stay of one day or fewer for hip and knee replacements during the analyzed time period; Asante Three Rivers Medical Center in Grants Pass, Oregon, Cedar City Hospital in Cedar City, Utah and Kaiser Permanente – Santa Clara Homestead Medical Center in Santa Clara, California reported average length of stay of 0.75, 0.97 and 1.00 days, respectively.

By: Saparja Nag  Dec. 28, 2017

According to a recent analysis conducted by Dexur of 2016 CMS Medicare claims, Northside Hospital Forsyth in Georgia had the highest national payment per day for DRG-470: Major Joint Replacement or Reattachment of a Lower Extremity discharges at $14,404.80. The three hospitals with the next highest payments per day were all located in California: UCSF Medical Center at Parnassus Heights, Washington Hospital, and Loma Linda University Medical Center. Payment/revenue per day is a commonly used metric to compare the general cost of treating similar patients at different facilities.