Quality and Outcomes Reports - Orthopedics

Average Unadjusted Length of Stay by Diagnosis

Why we measure it - We realize the importance of discharging a child from the hospital as soon as possible. The average time a child is in the hospital depends on many factors including how serious the illness or injury. Medical therapies can have a significant impact on recovery and length of hospital stay.

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What this means - Children's Hospital has a lower average length of stay for certain diagnoses compared to our PHIS peers while providing the highest quality of care as demonstrated by our survival rates.

About the data - The graph reflects the average number of days a child stays at Children's Hospital after surgery, depending on the diagnosis, compared to Pediatric Hospital Information System peers. PHIS hospitals represent other leading free-standing pediatric hospitals.

Related dimensions of care:

What we're doing to provide the best care:

  • Our goal is to manage scoliosis without surgery. However, when surgery is needed, orthopedic surgeons at Children's Hospital use the most advanced techniques, including a fairly new procedure that dramatically reduces recovery time from months to days.
  • We use the Ponseti casting technique to treat clubfoot, which shows better long-term outcomes while in most cases avoiding surgery.
  • We have a pediatric orthopedic nurse clinician who coordinates inpatient stays, discharge planning and follow-up clinic visits.  
  • Orthopedic staff are involved in basic science and clinical research including:
    • Improving ways of mapping the spine to monitor scoliosis without using X-rays.
    • Growth modulation devices to correct scoliosis without fusion.
  • We hold a surgical support group every other month for children needing scoliosis surgery. A multidisciplinary medical team offers information about the surgery and what to expect while in the hospital, and past surgical patients talk about their experiences. The meeting is followed by a tour of the surgery area and a patient room.

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 before and after surgery.
  • Ask questions if you don't understand the plan of care or if you are not sure how to care for your child at home.
  • Attend any and all 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.
  • Forward any needed patient documentation, including test results, to the specialty doctor's office prior to the patient's visit.
  • 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 data or information, email us or call (414) 266-6556.