National recognition for quality & patient safety

• Aurora Health Care Top Quality System in Nation in Medicare, Premier Healthcare Alliance Pay-for-Performance Project

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. The 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. In 2005, Aurora physicians wrote an estimated 2.2 million prescriptions through desktop or handheld computers, which the literature suggests prevented more than 91,000 medication errors.

AHRQ Grant -- In 2005, The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) awarded a 2-year Partnerships in Implementing Patient Safety Grant to Aurora to improve medication safety in the outpatient setting. The project joins patients, health care providers, and the community in Walworth County in a collaborative effort to develop and implement strategies to improve medication list accuracy.

The Leapfrog Group -- In 2006, The Leapfrog Group named 59 U.S. hospitals to its first Top Hospitals list based on results from the Leapfrog Hospital Quality and Safety Survey, a national rating system that offers a broad assessment of a hospital's quality and safety. Aurora Sinai Medical Center was named one of the top 50 hospitals.

Premier Award -- In 2006, Aurora Sinai Medical Center earned distinction as a national leader in providing the highest level of quality care with two Premier Awards for Quality:

Community Acquired Pneumonia
This is the second year in a row that Aurora Sinai has earned a Premier Award for Quality for the care and treatment of hospitalized patients with community acquired pneumonia as compared to similar Premier-member hospitals.

Maternal and Neonatal Care, Pregnancy and Related Conditions
Aurora Sinai earned a 2nd 2006 Premier Award for Quality for superior inpatient pregnancy care (including care for related conditions) as compared to similar Premier-member hospitals.

Magnet Award -- Aurora Health Care nurses were the first in Wisconsin to earn the coveted Magnet certification 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, and we were recertified in March 2005.

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

• Safe Care Wisconsin recognition for medication reconciliation

• Participation in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) 100,000 and 5 Million Lives Campaign

• Leapfrog Group's fourth leap (Leapfrog Safe Practices Score) - 30 safe practices that cover a range of practices that reduce the risk of harm in certain processes, systems or environments of care.