Taking a trip to the hospital is an experience most people would rather do without, but if injured or sick, students and residents of Madison as well as patients from around the state can expect top-ranked care from the award-winning and nationally recognized UW Hospital and Clinics system.
UW Hospital and Clinics representatives will travel to the National Organ Donation Learning Congress to receive the U.S. Health and Human Services Medal of Honor in May in recognition for their successful organ donation rates.
Additionally, UW-Madison's name has turned up on numerous hospital rankings compiled by magazines and corporations. Earlier this year, the Leapfrog Group included UW Hospital and Clinics on its list of \50 Exceptional U.S. Hospitals.""
Last year, U.S. News ranked it as one of the top 50 hospitals in the country in eight different areas of specialty.
""Patients want to know that when they go in to receive medical care, they're going to receive the best possible care at UW Hospital,"" UW Hospital spokesperson Aaron Conklin said.
""The hospital won these awards because they meet high standards,"" he added. ""They've made a commitment both financially and organizationally to fund some initiatives to try and reduce patient errors, to really do they best they can to attract top doctors.""
In order to achieve national recognition, UW Hospital and Clinics have stressed the importance of reducing medical errors that can potentially have fatal results.
""One of the problems that sometimes occurs is when physicians write orders or prescriptions quickly, the handwriting is maybe a little sloppy, so there's a pretty good chance for an error to occur along the way,"" Conklin continued. ""We're implementing a computerized system that allows everybody to communicate along the same lines. This computer system helps prevents errors that would normally occur in a hospital from happening.""
Hiring and retaining specialized physicians is another key way for the hospitals to keep their patient care and research functioning on such a successful level.
""It's the willingness of the UW Hospital to be a resource for practitioners around the state to provide excellent care for their patients who require specialized care,"" said Dr. Thomas Saari, UW-Medical School professor. ""The success and fame of the hospitals here is based on their specialty care.""
Many doctors also agree that their awards and rankings can be largely attributed to UW Hospital and Clinics' status as a teaching institution for medical students and hospital residents.
""You'd think, 'Oh, what if a student makes a mistake?' Well, they are being supervised by residents and faculty, so they are not out there on their own,"" said Dr. Patrick McBride, medical school associate dean and professor.
""So really, there are more people around to observe what's going on, and that reduces the possibility of mistakes. It's one of the major institutions in the country,"" he said.
