Independent, sourced patient educationInformedSurgery
Hip Replacement Explained
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All topics
  1. What it is
  2. Who it helps
  3. Timing
  4. The procedure
  5. What a hemiarthroplasty is
  6. Hemi vs total hip
  7. Recovery after hip fracture
  8. Patient journey
  9. Recovery supplies
  10. Finding a surgeon
  11. Insurance and costs
  12. Questions to ask
  13. Implant designs
  14. Side-by-side
  15. Robotics and navigation
  16. US manufacturers
  17. What the evidence says
  18. Value analysis
  19. Resources
  20. Glossary
  21. References

For patients and families

Finding the right surgeon

The surgeon you choose shapes your hip replacement more than almost any other decision: which operation you have, which implant, how the team handles problems, and what recovery looks like. There's no single number that tells you who is best, but a few checks go a long way.

What to look for

  • Board certification in orthopaedic surgery. Certification by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) means the surgeon passed written and oral exams after residency. It lasts 10 years at a time and requires an unrestricted license to keep. You can check it for free on the ABOS website.52
  • Joint replacement training. Many hip and knee surgeons complete an adult reconstruction fellowship, at least one extra year of training after a five-year orthopaedic residency, focused on joint replacement.53 It isn't required to do a good job, but it shows a focus on this operation.
  • Regular experience with your operation. In a 2026 review of 18 studies covering almost 800,000 hip replacements, patients of high-volume surgeons had lower readmission at one month and lower mortality at three months. Differences in revision weren't statistically significant, and studies defined "high volume" in different ways.41 For broken hips, a large review found no clear link between surgeon or hospital volume and outcomes.42
  • A hospital and team that do this often. Ask where surgery will happen, who handles your care before and after, and how to reach the team at night if something seems wrong.
  • Clear, unhurried explanations. You should leave understanding the options, including not having surgery yet, the main risks and what results to expect.

What to watch out for

  • Pressure or guarantees. A good surgeon explains risks, alternatives and realistic results, and doesn't promise a perfect outcome or push you to decide on the spot.
  • Vague answers about experience. "I do plenty" isn't an answer. It's fair to ask how many of this operation they did last year and how often patients need a second surgery.
  • License problems. State medical boards publish disciplinary actions. FSMB's free DocInfo search shows license status and board actions in every state where a doctor is licensed.54
  • Marketing that outruns the evidence. A review of news coverage of robotic knee replacement found almost 90% of articles were favorable and fewer than 7% mentioned any downsides, while randomized trials mostly found no difference in function.43 Be cautious when a practice leads with technology instead of results.
  • Relying on star ratings alone. Online ratings often rest on a handful of reviews and don't track surgical results (see below).44

Where to look

  • Verify board certificationAmerican Board of Orthopaedic Surgery

    Free, same-day primary-source check of whether a surgeon is ABOS board certified.

  • Find a hip and knee surgeonAmerican Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons

    Search for AAHKS member surgeons near you. Fellow members must be board certified and do at least 50 hip or knee replacements a year.

  • Check licenses and disciplineFederation of State Medical Boards

    DocInfo shows license status and any board actions across all states.

  • Look up industry paymentsCMS Open Payments

    Search a doctor's payments from drug and device companies. More below.

  • Compare doctors and hospitalsMedicare Care Compare

    Official Medicare information on clinicians and hospitals, including some quality measures.

Asking for referrals

Ask the people who see surgeons' results up close: your primary care doctor, your physical therapist, and nurses or therapists who work at the hospital. A useful question is "Who would you send your own family member to?"

Friends and family who had the same operation can tell you what the surgeon and staff were like to deal with, though one person's result doesn't tell you much about the surgeon's overall results.

Check your insurance network early, since an out-of-network surgeon or hospital can be expensive. Getting a second opinion is normal and surgeons expect it. Medicare Part B covers a second opinion before medically necessary, non-emergency surgery, and a third if the first two disagree. Many private plans cover second opinions too.56

Open Payments: industry money, in public

Under federal law, drug and device companies report payments they make to doctors and teaching hospitals, and CMS publishes them in the Open Payments database. It covers general payments (such as consulting, speaking, travel and meals), research payments, and ownership stakes. CMS publishes each year's data by June 30 and updates it every January.55

How to read it. Payments are common among surgeons, especially those who teach other surgeons, help design implants or run research. A payment isn't wrongdoing and doesn't mean the surgeon is a worse choice. It's simply information. If you see large or ongoing payments from one company, it's fair to ask, politely, how the surgeon chooses implants and whether you'd get the same recommendation from a surgeon without that relationship.

Search Open Payments

Bedside manner vs experience

Both matter, but they tell you different things.

Online ratings mostly measure the visit, not the operation. In a study of more than 600 heart surgeons whose death rates are publicly reported, online ratings averaged 4.4 out of 5, were often based on just a few reviews, and had no relationship with surgical mortality.44 Reviews of orthopaedic care reach a similar conclusion: satisfaction scores correlate poorly with surgical outcomes.45

Communication still matters. You'll make shared decisions about the operation and the implant, and after surgery you need a team that listens when something feels wrong. A surgeon who seems brisk may be technically excellent, so pay attention to whether you get clear answers and whether the team (often a physician assistant or nurse) is easy to reach.

A practical rule. Put training and experience with your specific operation first, then choose, among well-qualified surgeons, the one you trust and can talk to.

Next step

Take our questions to ask your surgeon to the consultation, and write the answers down.

Sources for this page

  1. Meissner N, et al. The effect of surgeon volume on outcomes after total hip arthroplasty: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg. 2026;146(1). doi:10.1007/s00402-026-06434-w
  2. Wiegers EJA, et al. The volume-outcome relationship for hip fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 2,023,469 patients. Acta Orthop. 2019;90(1):26-32. doi:10.1080/17453674.2018.1545383
  3. Ekhtiari S, et al. Evidence versus frenzy in robotic total knee arthroplasty: a systematic review comparing news media claims to randomized controlled trial evidence. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2024;106(24):2384-2392. doi:10.2106/JBJS.24.00264
  4. Okike K, et al. Association between physician online rating and quality of care. J Med Internet Res. 2016;18(12):e324. doi:10.2196/jmir.6612
  5. Murasko MJ, et al. Patient satisfaction scores are a poor metric of orthopedic care. Orthopedics. 2022;45(3):e127-e133. doi:10.3928/01477447-20220217-06
  6. American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. Verify certification. abos.org/verify-certification
  7. American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons. What it means to be a member of AAHKS. hipknee.aahks.org
  8. Federation of State Medical Boards. DocInfo physician search. docinfo.org
  9. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Open Payments data overview. cms.gov/openpayments/data
  10. Medicare.gov. Second surgical opinions. medicare.gov/coverage/second-surgical-opinions

All references