You will speak to one of our referral coordinators who will ask you questions about your medical history, assist you in acquiring your medical information from your current provider and schedule your appointment with the vascular expert that is best suited to assess for your condition. We will work with you and your insurance provider to make sure your visits are covered.
What You Can Expect
Our Vascular Second Opinion Program is an opportunity for you to explore more options regarding your vascular condition. The program includes:
- Assistance from a program coordinator who will arrange your appointments, help you acquire all the test and treatment information available from your current medical provider and work with you on your follow-up care plan.
- Ability to see one of our highly regarded vascular medicine or vascular surgery specialists.
- Care coordinated within 72 hours of contacting us (within weekday business hours).
- A customized care plan within one or two visits, with a letter to you and your physician describing our findings and suggested next steps.
What Patients Are Appropriate for Second Opinions?
We see patients with a variety of vascular diseases – from peripheral arterial disease (PAD) to abdominal aortic aneurysm. The Vascular Second Opinion Program has dedicated and highly trained Medical College of Wisconsin vascular experts involved in the latest research and utilizing state-of-the-science diagnostic and treatment technology.
Vascular conditions which may benefit from a second opinion include:
- Abdominal aortic aneurysm
- Atherosclerosis
- Carotid artery disease
- Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
- Diabetic foot ulceration
- Lymphedema
- Mesenteric Ischemia
- Peripheral aneurysms
- Peripheral arterial disease (PAD)
- Raynaud’s disease
- Renal artery stenosis
- Thoracic outlet – venous and arterial
- Venous Insufficiency
- Venous stasis ulceration
Location
Froedtert & MCW vascular services are available at multiple community locations in Milwaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties.
Your Appointment
Our coordinator can assist you in gathering the appropriate medical records prior to your first visit. Every attempt will be made to minimize the number of visits, but it is possible that you may require more than one visit to render the best opinion.
A Comprehensive Session
The team will review in advance of your appointment any medical records we have received in anticipation of what you may need at this point. This could include ordering additional tests or treatments at the same time as this appointment.
This appointment will be used as a comprehensive session with the physician and nurse to discuss your current condition and recommendation of additional steps. There are instances when tests will need to be repeated, for example, if the CT scan is unreadable or dated, you could be requested to have a new CT scan. If this is the case, another appointment will be scheduled to discuss results and recommendations with you.
Our Cardiovascular Program continues to receive recognition as one of the top programs nationally. We are honored to provide high-quality, effective care for even the most high-risk patients.
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Check Out Our Heart and Vascular Program Awards and Recognition
The Froedtert & MCW health network has built a reputation for clinical excellence and our research draws patients from around the world. Our Heart & Vascular program recognitions include:
- Premier recognized Froedtert Hospital in 2025 as one of the nation’s 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals® according to its independent quality analysis based on a balanced scorecard. The hospitals recognized in the top 50 operated at lower cost and had better outcomes, recording significantly higher inpatient survival rates, fewer patients with complications, lower readmission rates and up to nearly $7,000 less in total costs per patient case. Froedtert Hospital was ranked in the category of top teaching hospitals with a cardiovascular residency program. No other hospital in Wisconsin was recognized with this national distinction.
- The International Cardio-Oncology Society (ICOS) recognizes our Cardio-Oncology Program as a gold level Cardio-Oncology Center of Excellence in 2025. ICOS certification is awarded to institutions and practices that demonstrate superior expertise in the care of patients who have heart disease, are at high risk or experience heart complications with cancer treatment. The ICOS awards bronze, silver and gold certification. Of the two ICOS-certified programs in Wisconsin, we are the only one that meets the stringent requirements needed to be recognized as a gold level Cardio-Oncology Center of Excellence.
- Healthgrades recognized Froedtert Hospital in its 2024 Specialty Excellence Awards, including one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery, one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care and one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Coronary Intervention, as well as other specialty achievements in various areas.
- Becker’s Hospital Review recognized Froedtert Hospital within its 2024 list of 100 Hospitals and Health Systems with Great Heart Programs. Hospitals featured on this list are renowned for delivering superior heart and vascular care that results in high-quality outcomes. As part of a health network that includes eastern Wisconsin’s only academic medical center, our heart and vascular specialists treat a high volume of patients with a wide variety of heart diseases.
- The Society for Vascular Surgery's Vascular Quality Initiative (SVS VQI) recognized Froedert Hospital as a Carotid Care Quality Champion by the SVS VQI‘s clinical registry recognition program in 2024. The VQI recognizes select centers across the country as Carotid Care Quality Champions for their dedication to improving the safety and effectiveness of vascular care through participation and engagement in VQI’s carotid artery stenting and/or carotid endarterectomy registries.
- The American Heart Association recognized Froedtert Hospital with the following awards that show our commitment to improving care by adhering to the latest treatment guidelines and streamlining processes to ensure timely and proper care for heart attacks.
- Get With the Guidelines® Heart Failure Gold Plus Award
- Get With the Guidelines® — Coronary Artery Disease STEMI Receiving Gold Plus with Target: Type 2 Diabetes
- Get With the Guidelines® — Coronary Artery Disease NSTEMI Gold with Target: Type 2 Diabetes
- Get With the Guidelines® AFib Gold Award
- In addition, the hospital was recognized on the AHA’s Target: Heart Failure(SM) Honor Roll and received the AHA’s Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll™ award.
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