How Long is the ER Wait at Oak Creek-Area Hospitals?

If you go to the emergency room at the new Wheaton Franciscan Hospital in Franklin, how long will it take before you see a health-care professional?

The federal government says 17 minutes on average.

That's a better than both the state and national averages — 19 minutes and a 29 minutes, respectively. And it's only half of the average wait time at the other hospital closest to Oak Creek: St. Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee, according to a new federal database causing some hospital officials nationwide to cringe.

At St. Luke's, a person has to wait an average of 34 minutes before being seen.

Key measures of ER efficiency have been posted from hospitals taking part across the country, according to a report by Cheryl Clark, now senior quality editor for HealthLeaders Media.

“With precious little fanfare, Uncle Sam ... rolled out a big, fat database with seven measures comparing a service that many people — healthcare providers and patients alike — consider the most critical any hospital can provide,” Clark wrote.

Data collected in 2011 and early 2012 also tracked things like how long it took for an ER patient with a broken bone to get pain medication, or how long the wait was to get a bed, if they needed admission. Other data showed how long patients spent in the ER before being sent home and whether they received a brain scan if they might have suffered a stroke. It even asked questions about how clean the bathrooms are.

Clark interviewed Dr. Jesse Pines, an emergency room doctor and researcher who directs the center for healthcare quality at George Washington University.

“The theory is that when hospitals report this information, it makes them focus on it, and improve throughout their (Emergency Department),” Pines was quoted as saying.

“But it’s very hard to do. Certain performance measures are easier to fix—like simple process measures like giving patients an aspirin—than improving ED throughput, which involves development of interdisciplinary teams.”

Pines told Clark the public focus good pushes hospital administrators to focus on the emergency room as well as other metrics.

Here's how the two facilities nearest to Oak Creek compare to state and national averages

Residents can compare the ER care at these two hospitals with any other local hospital in the national database.

First go to the Hospital Compare website. Then type in your ZIP code, city or local hospital. When a list of hospitals is displayed, put a checkmark next to two or three hospitals.

Scroll down to a yellow button labeled Compare Now, and click to display more details. Look for a tab called Timely and Effective Care and click that.

Finally, scroll down to a section called Timely Emergency Department Care. A green button allows you to “View More Details,” displaying something like this page comparing our two local hospitals.

Were you surprised by any of the stats displayed?  Tell us in the comments.