AdventHealth East Orlando First in Florida to Earn Advanced Foot & Ankle Surgery Certification from DNV

AdventHealth East Orlando recently became the first hospital in Florida to earn Advanced Foot & Ankle Surgery Certification from DNV, a worldwide, independent certification body. To achieve this goal, the team of physicians and nurses demonstrated compliance with the DNV disease specific standards for complex foot and ankle surgeries -- specifically arthroplasty and hindfoot/ankle arthrodesis.

“Our goal is to be national leaders in foot and ankle surgery through safe, effective and quality care, and this DNV designation recognizes our dedicated team’s hard work in achieving the desired results,” says Amber Shane, DPM, podiatric foot and ankle surgeon and AdventHealth department chair.

Optimizing Outcomes for Foot & Ankle Surgeries
The DNV Advanced Foot & Ankle Surgery Certification process encompassed both a comprehensive application and an on-site survey that evaluated AdventHealth East Orlando’s processes from initial orthopedic consultation to discharge, including preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative patient care. Performance measures, protocols, processes and continuous quality improvement strategies for the following were included in the review:

• Pre-surgery patient/caregiver education
• Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS)
• Length of stay
• Comprehensive functional assessment
• Ambulation on postoperative day zero
• Discharge planning
• Unplanned post-surgical return to facility (e.g., emergency department, observation, or inpatient status)
• Surgical complications, including 90-day return-to-surgery rate, surgical site infections, elective blood transfusion rate, 30-day post-surgery deep vein thrombosis (DVT) rate, 30-day post-surgery pulmonary embolism (PE) rate, compartment syndrome, and patient-reported outcome measures.
• Education and competency training for direct patient care staff

The DNV survey team made special mention of AdventHealth East Orlando’s multimodal pain management protocols for the foot and ankle procedures it initiated. Additionally, continuous quality improvement initiatives implemented in recent years and evaluated through the DNV certification process have led AdventHealth East Orlando to achieve the following foot and ankle surgical outcomes:

• No mortalities, surgical site infections (SSI), DVT, PE, or readmissions within the first 30 days after surgery
• Low rate of return to ED within 7 days of surgery
• Timing and selection of preoperative antibiotics at 100% compliance with best practice guidelines

“We have been surpassing our benchmarks in terms of clinical outcomes,” comments Dr. Shane. “That combined with this new DNV certification is reassuring for physicians, patients and their families. We are committed to providing the best possible foot and ankle care, and our voluntary participation in the DNV process provides us ongoing access to worldwide best clinical and administrative practices in the field.”

Planning for the Future of Foot & Ankle Surgical Care
In addition to continuous quality improvement efforts and earning DNV certification, AdventHealth East Orlando also remains committed to improving access to quality foot and ankle care by training the next generation of podiatric surgeons through its 3-year Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Residency program. Residents are trained in traumatology, reconstructive foot and ankle surgery, wound care/limb salvage, and elective foot and ankle surgery. 

Learn more at the AdventHealth East Orlando website.