Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin
FroedtertHealth
In Wisconsin, call
1-800-DOCTORS
Contact Us | News Room | Careers
For Professionals | For Employers
  • Froedtert Health Home
  • Froedtert
    Hospital
  • Community Memorial
    Hospital
  • St. Joseph's
    Hospital
  • Community &
    Specialty Clinics
Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin
Find a Doctor
Diseases and Specialties
Locations & Directions
Patient Information
Visitor Information
Clinical Research
Donating and Volunteering
For Health Care Professionals
Health Resources
About Us
Diseases and Specialties Home
Directions to Campus
On-Campus Directions
Off-Campus Facilities
Froedtert Health Locations
Primary Care Clinics
Centers for Diagnostic Imaging (CDI)
New Clinics & Relocations
Transportation and Parking Services
Advance Directives
Appointments
Billing and Insurance
Contacting a Patient
Find a Doctor
Gift Shop
Inpatient Care
Medical Records
Patient and Family Services
Patient Safety
Pharmacy
Pre-Arrival
Privacy
CarePages
Contacting a Patient
Hours and Guidelines
Local Area Services
Services in the Hospital
Current Programs
Clinical Trials Basics
Recommended Resources
Froedtert Hospital Foundation
Volunteering
About Nursing
For EMS
For Physicians
Professional Education
Child Life Services
Classes and Events
e-Newsletters
Griefwords
Health Care Roundtable
Health Blogs
Health Podcasts
Just Drive!
Reading Room
Small Stones Wellness Center
Support Groups
Workforce Health Program
Academic Medical Center
Achievements and Recognition
Advanced Practice Nurses
For Our Suppliers
Our Commitment to Community
Our Physicians
Our Prices
Partnerships and Affiliations
Physician Assistants
Quality Care
Who We Are
Working at Froedtert
Home ) About Us ) Quality Care
About Us
Academic Medical Center
Achievements and Recognition
Advanced Practice Nurses
For Our Suppliers
Our Commitment to Community
Our Physicians
Our Prices
Partnerships and Affiliations
Physician Assistants
Quality Care
Institute of Medicine Aims
Bariatric Reports
Reproductive Medicine Reports
Liver Transplant Reports
Patient Safety
Prostate and Urologic Cancer Reports
SpineCare Reports
State and National Reports
Stroke and Neurovascular Reports
Who We Are
Working at Froedtert
Institute of Medicine Aims

Quality Care

We are dedicated to high-quality care.

Quality patient care and patient satisfaction are hallmarks of Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin. We are committed to continually improving the quality of care we provide in our hospital and clinics. We take great pride in the dedication of our staff and are committed to our mission to “advance the health status of the individuals and communities we serve through high-quality patient care.”

When choosing health care services, we believe that you can make better decisions for yourself and your family if you have accurate information. To help you make informed choices, we report various types of care quality data to the public. Our quality data can help you understand how Froedtert & The Medical College compare to national guidelines and standards of care, and to other hospitals in Wisconsin and across the country.

To guide us in improving our services, Froedtert & The Medical College have embraced the Institute of Medicine’s six “Aims for Improvement” to provide health care that is:
 

  • Safe
  • Effective
  • Patient-Centered
  • Timely
  • Efficient
  • Equitable


Froedtert & The Medical College have coordinated our quality efforts with these categories. On the pages in this section, we identify which aim we feel is met by the reporting that we do. We hope that this helps our patients and customers understand our quality activities a little better.

Our quality is measured in our clinical performance, patient care outcomes, patient satisfaction scores and the major designations and awards we receive. We invite you to visit our quality reports and to talk to your family and friends about the care they have received at Froedtert & The Medical College.

State and National Quality Reports

Information about quality and safety of care at Froedtert Hospital can be found at wicheckpoint.org or with other organizations that collect quality data from hospitals in Wisconsin and the nation. Our data is reported on these organizations'  websites and provide information on care quality among hospitals that report their data for selected clinical areas.

Froedtert & The Medical College Quality Reports

Patient care outcomes for five Froedtert & The Medical College programs are listed below.

  • Bariatric Surgery
  • Liver Transplant
  • Prostate and Urologic Cancer Program
  • Reproductive Medicine Center
  • SpineCare
  • Stroke and Neurovascular Program


Six Sigma Quality Initiative Reduces Errors

To reduce medical errors and improve operational efficiency, in 1999 Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin were one of the first hospitals in the country to adapt Six Sigma.

Developed and trademarked by Motorola and popularized by GE, Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating errors. It is considered to be the most sophisticated quality approach available. In 1999, Froedtert & The Medical College formed a consortium with the American Society for Quality to use Six Sigma to reduce medical errors and improve operating efficiency.

Since 1999, Froedtert has deployed more than 60 interdisciplinary Six Sigma teams and trained about 90 members of Froedtert’s leadership team. Many of the teams are composed of direct caregivers such as nurses, physicians, pharmacists, social workers, case managers and physical therapists. Patients have also served on many project teams and provide their unique perspective on processes targeted for improvement. Team members define why a project is important, identify the causes of a problem, assist with collecting data, analyze the data, arrive at solutions, implement the pilot project and maintain improvements.

After many years of experience with Six Sigma, many improvements have been attained:

  • A Six Sigma interdisciplinary team won the Baxter 2005 Excellence in Patient Safety Award at the American Association of Critical Care Nurses National Teaching Institute and Critical Care Expo. The award recognized a pilot project in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit to improve patient safety related to insulin therapy. Following the pilot, all protocols and guidelines were approved and formally implemented.
  • Telemetry response time has been reduced on the Cardiology floor to an average of 30 seconds.
  • Inpatient falls have been reduced on the Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit by 52 percent and on the Hematology/Oncology Unit by 26 percent. Implementation of this program throughout the hospital is planned for early 2007.

Six Sigma initiatives completed in 2005/2006 were successful in:

  • Ensuring that any additional findings reported in the final results of a CT scan are promptly communicated to the staff physician
  • Decreasing wait time for patients in centralized registration
  • Improving communication with the patient about the inpatient discharge process
  • Reducing wait time for patients in the outpatient lab
  • Improving accuracy, legibility and verification of patient identification
  • Reducing medication turnaround time
  • Improving glycemic (blood sugar) control in the post operative period
  • Reducing wait time in the GI Lab and improving efficiencies in the Pulmonary Functions Lab

Through Six Sigma, Froedtert & The Medical College are creating value through better operational processes and improved patient safety and satisfaction.

 

 

Last Review Date: December 2012

e-Newsletters

Monthly articles about the health topics of your choice!

Sign Up Today Sign Up Today

Log In to My Froedtert Log In to My Froedtert

Related Information

Epic Improvement

Connecting With Important Issues

Researcher Helps Pinpoint InflammationGene

Taking Aim at Patient Safety

Quality Measures Help Shape Care

"We Verify" Helps Ensure Patient Safety

More >>

Quick Links

Register for Classes/Events

Find a Doctor

Get Directions

Request an Appointment

Pay Your Bill

e-Newsletter Sign-Up

Make a Donation

Gift Shop

Printer Icon
Printer Friendly
Envelope Icon
Send to a Friend
© 2013 Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin
9200 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53226
Privacy | Security | Editorial Policy | Terms and Conditions | Accessibility | Site Index