Health care quality

Our vision at Aurora involves finding better ways to provide health care. We want to give people better access, better service, and better results than they can get anywhere else. Through our care management philosophy, we are able to do just that. It may involve new treatment guidelines that return patients to health faster or finding ways to help people better manage their health and improve their quality of life. Our goal is to provide services that are:

  • Coordinated across all care settings
  • Accessible and understandable to everyone we serve
  • Designed to meet the needs of individuals and communities
  • Meeting or exceeding best practices in the health care field
  • Measurable against defined standards

Our care management philosophy is at the heart of everything we do and is measured through more than 25 initiatives, including cholesterol, congestive heart failure, pneumonia, stroke, heart attack, breast and cervical cancer, colorectal cancer and influenza. Care management generates these kinds of results:

  • Fewer days in intensive care for patients after heart attack
  • A more timely and effective treatment plan for patients with pneumonia
  • Fewer visits to the ER for people with asthma
  • Fewer hospital visits for patients with congestive heart failure
  • Improved cholesterol levels in people with coronary artery disease
  • Improved blood sugar control in people with diabetes

National recognition for quality and patient safety

Cholesterol Management - Aurora Medical Group was an honoree for the American Medical Association's Acclaim Award for our care management initiative focused on cholesterol management in coronary artery disease (CAD). The Acclaim Award rewards quality improvement efforts that measurably improve health outcomes and quality of life for patients.

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices recognized Aurora for accomplishments in patient safety. The Institute commended Aurora for incorporating patient safety into its strategic focus and recognized our development of a computerized patient record system throughout the organization. One component of the system is an electronic prescription program. All Aurora physicians use either this desktop prescription program or handheld computers when they write prescriptions. Last year, our physicians wrote 1.4 million computerized prescriptions, which the literature suggests prevented nearly 58,000 medication errors.

Premier Award - Aurora received the Premier Quality Performance award for clinical outcome excellence in patient safety. The award measured the improvement of clinical outcomes and the impact on the patient population, along with a number of other factors. Three areas of focus recognized by judges included the establishment of a Medication Error Reduction Team, enhancements to Aurora's safety culture, and the use of technology to reduce medication errors.

Magnet Award - Aurora Health Care nurses were the first in Wisconsin to earn the coveted Magnet recognition from the American Nurses Association. This national designation is the highest level of recognition for nursing services. We are the first health care system in the country to achieve Magnet status for multiple hospitals.

Additional patient safety initiatives

  • Charter membership in the national Patient Safety Foundation's Stand Up for Patient Safety Campaign.
  • Founding membership in the Wisconsin Patient Safety Institute.

Computerized Patient Records enhancing patient care

Our work in care management is enhanced through the use of a comprehensive Computerized Patient Record (CPR) that is setting the stage for better outcomes, better service and the delivery of more efficient, cost-effective care. The computerized patient record brings together all of the information caregivers need to make the best decisions -clinic visits, emergency room visits, hospital stays, lab results, prescriptions and more. The CPR system is in place at all 14 of our hospitals and by the end of the year will be in place at all Aurora clinics (over 100) throughout eastern Wisconsin.

Local hospital initiatives

Patient safety: Unsafe abbreviation list was distributed to all Aurora BayCare employees for their reference. Patient Safety Week will enable staff to learn more about our culture of safety. A Patient Safety Fair will focus on the 2004 Patient Safety Goals.

Care Management: In the past year, 97% of our Congestive Heart Failure patients were discharged home on an ACE inhibitor and 94% of our pneumonia patients received their antibiotic within 3 hours of presentation to our facility. Physicians will utilize pocket reference cards for quick access to the clinical indicators that are being monitored.

Quality Council: Hospital wide ORYX data and Dashboard Clinical Indicators are reviewed monthly.

Surgical site infection rates: Established an Antibiotic PI team to work with the MetaStar Collaborative to ensure that our patients are receiving their pre-op antibiotics within 1 hour of their surgical incision and their antibiotics are being discontinued 24 hours post-operatively unless otherwise indicated.