If you ever have the need to go to a hospital, you should be sure that the hospital you choose meets certain safety criteria. To make sure that you are receiving the best care possible, hospitals should be implementing certain practices in order to have a safe environment.
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade provides measurements for hospitals to comply with. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade list of hospitals in Wisconsin is available HERE.
Hospitals are given a grade of A, B, C, or D to measure practices as small as hand-washing to practices as big as a surgical procedure. These grades are a result of scores they receive in categories that report infections, surgical problems, error prevention practices, safety problems, and various aspects regarding the hospital staff. If a hospital refuses to answer in a certain category, it is reflected in their overall grade.
Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin Froedtert Hospital received an A for the fall 2017 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. They have specially trained doctors to care for patients in intensive care units, good communication between the staff and patients, and are very responsive to patient's needs. They have few incidents of surgical wounds splitting open and pay close attention to prevent issues such as post surgery breathing problems. Froedtert scored below average in reports of death from treatable post-surgery complications, leaving dangerous objects in patient's bodies, and with patients getting dangerous bed sores.
Aurora Sinai Medical Center was given a B for their fall 2017 grade. Their doctors are excellent with communication, few surgical wounds split open after surgery, and no objects were accidently left in a patient's body. Aurora scored poorly in reports of patient falls, bed sores, collapsed lungs, breathing problems, and accidental cuts or tears. In addition, the hospital declined to report information regarding leadership prevention of errors, the amount of nurse qualification, and the amount of specially trained doctors for ICU patients.
Compared to other states' hospitals, Wisconsin's hospitals rank pretty well. Some hospitals are not listed in the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade because of various exemptions to report public information and some hospitals are not able to provide data given their size or other reasons.
