Our Approach to Care
- Our experienced team. Our core team is made up of orthopaedic surgeons who specialize in the hip, radiologists, physical therapists, advanced nurse practitioners and registered nurses. We work together to develop each patient’s treatment plan and provide comprehensive, personalized care.
- Clinical evaluation. When you visit us, our care team members will evaluate you during a clinical exam. These clinical evaluations are often supplemented with the latest diagnostic techniques, including ultrasound, conventional X-ray, arthrography, bone scan, CT scan and MRI.
- Complex cases. All complex cases are reviewed by our hip team each month during our Hip Conference. This team includes experts who have specialized training and extensive experience with hip conditions in children, teens and young adults. The collective experience of this team allows us to provide the best possible care plans for complex cases.
- Multidisciplinary care. Experts from a variety of specialties form your care team, based on each patient’s individual needs. We regularly partner with the following areas when evaluating and treating our patients:
- Musculoskeletal radiology team
- Anesthesia pain team
- Motion Analysis Lab (gait lab)
- Inpatient and outpatient nursing units with dedicated nurse practitioners for the Hip Preservation Program
- Focus on quality of life. Our team looks closely at how a hip condition is affecting your or your child’s life. We aim to get our patients back to normal activity levels as quickly as possible.
- We treat newborns, children and teens, but also adults up to age 45.
- Family-centered approach. We believe that family members are an integral part of the care team, and we work with you when developing a treatment plan.
- Physical therapy partnership. Physical therapy is key to recovering from orthopaedic surgery. We have a dedicated physical therapist who oversees the therapy needs of all of our hip patients. We have developed physical therapy protocols specific to both inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation that are tailored to an individual’s recovery and allow patients to accelerate their recovery as much as possible. We are also able to provide guidance for outpatient therapy protocols for our patients who travel.
- Cutting-edge research. Our specialists participate in clinical research to better understand hip conditions and develop more effective treatment options. We also perform translational research, which focuses on taking what we learn in the lab and transitioning it to a patient’s care at the bedside.
- On-site gait lab. Our Motion Analysis Lab uses state-of-the-art technology that allows us to perform dynamic exams and assess hip stability and function in motion. This helps identify the best treatment and therapy for you or your child.
- Dedicated hospitalist teams. We have a pediatric hospitalist team as well as an adult hospitalist team that help manage our patients’ care while they’re in the hospital.
- Effective pain management. Our perioperative pain team selects medications and provides specialized regional anesthesia, depending on each patient’s case and medical history. This team has experience caring for healthy patients as well as patients with other health conditions, anomalies and syndromes.
Monthly Hip Conference
Each month we hold a Hip Conference to discuss patient cases. Sometimes there is a question about whether a recommended treatment is the best option. When that happens, your surgeon will use this meeting to go over your or your child’s case. The case will be discussed with:
- The Division of Orthopaedics director
- Two co-directors of our Hip Preservation Program
- A joint replacement surgeon
- Clinical nursing staff
- Chief of musculoskeletal radiology
The goal of this meeting is to cover all aspects of the case. Topics include patient age, lifestyle, and expectations of and after surgery. We want to make sure everyone, including the patient and family, agree that the recommended treatment is right for the patient.
