Quality and Outcomes Reports - Neonatology

Survival by diagnosis

Why we measure it - Overwhelmingly, survival is the first and most important statistic parents and others ask about. We measure survival for a number of diagnoses and compare ourselves to the national average to make sure we are providing excellent care. 

What this means - Children's Hospital has equivalent or higher survival rates for these diagnoses compared to our Pediatric Hospital Information System peers (PHIS). PHIS hospitals represent other leading freestanding pediatric hospitals.

About the data - The data reflects the survival rate by diagnosis for select procedures at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin compared to PHIS peers.

Related dimensions of care:

What we're doing to provide the best care:

  • Through our Fetal Concerns Center of Wisconsin, we can diagnose most heart defects in unborn babies and offer counseling and coordinated medical care for mother and baby. This allows families and staff time to anticipate needs and plan care, which improves the care provided at birth.
  • The Froedtert & Medical College Birth Center is located inside Children's Hospital to reduce the time it takes to get a fragile newborn into surgery. Research shows outcomes improve when the delivery room and operating room are close together. This also offers families the added convenience of having mother and baby hospitalized near one another.
  • We have a highly specialized Children's Transport Team available 24 hours a day to stabilize and transport critically ill infants to our center. More than 1,500 transports are provided each year. A team highly experienced in neonatal resuscitation and stabilization provides intensive-care-unit-level care during transports. Nurses who attend transports have expanded skills and training that allows them to care for critically ill infants from the time of delivery until arrival at Children's Hospital.
  • Children's Hospital of Wisconsin has the only Level 3C Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the state, the highest level acknowledged by the American Academy of Pediatrics, capable of caring for any newborn regardless of diagnosis.
  • The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is connected to the operating rooms to ensure we can transport critically ill newborns in need of surgery as quickly and as easily as possible.
  • Neonates receive speech, physical and occupational therapy while in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to make sure they learn how to grab, hold, suck, swallow and eat - skills even the sickest babies need to develop normally.
  • Children's Hospital has lactation consultants who are registered nurses and highly trained to help mothers and babies overcome feeding difficulties, even when infants have diagnoses that make breastfeeding difficult.
  • We offer the Family Accommodations Program to help make travel arrangements and coordinate appointments for families traveling to our center from a long distance.
  • We offer a special long-term follow-up clinic for neonatology patients to identify any problems as early as possible and provide support as necessary.

Patients and families:

  • Be an advocate for your child. Participate in daily bedside clinical discussions, and provide any information about your child that may be helpful to staff.
  • Follow medical instructions fully and carefully.
  • Ask questions if you don't understand the plan of care or if you are not sure how to care for your child.
  • Attend any follow-up appointments.

Referring physicians:

  • Referring physicians can access our specialists for consultation or transport 24 hours a day. Call our physician referral line at (800) 266-0366.
  • Health care providers from outside of our southeastern Wisconsin service area are encouraged to use our web-based 
    e-Consult service. This service is available for non-urgent patient cases only and gives providers access to our specialists to review patient cases, obtain medical advice or second opinions, and receive care recommendations for rare symptoms and illnesses.
    e-Consult is not to be used by the general public, parents/guardians or families.
  • Care guidelines for medical professionals
  • Educational materials
  • Pocket Directory 

If you have questions about this information, email us or call (414) 266-6556.