WCHQ News Releases

Recognized for high performance for depression screening rate

The Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality recognized Aspirus as a top performer at WCHQ’s annual Statewide Quality Improvement Event June 5 in Madison. Susan Schneider, MD, chief medical officer and Matt Brewer, vice president of operations and chief nursing officer, Aspirus Clinics, accepted the award presented by Gabrielle Rude, Ph.D., WCHQ director of practice transformation.

WCHQ annually honors a select number of member organizations for superior clinical performance and patient outcomes.

Aspirus ranked first among WCHQ members on their scores related to screening patients for depression. One out of six adults will have depression some time in their lives. Depression complicates chronic conditions and it can contribute to substance abuse and misuse problems. Research shows that 80 percent of patients with depression will improve with treatment.

“Aspirus is doing an outstanding job of screening their patients for depression and enabling early interventions. It takes perseverance and hard work to hard wire processes in place to ensure patients are screened,” according to WCHQ President/CEO Chris Queram. “Aspirus is not only able to improve the quality of care they provide their patients, but by working with WCHQ and collaborating with other medical professionals across the state, they are improving the quality of care in Wisconsin.”

WCHQ is dedicated to helping health care professionals improve the quality and affordability of health care through collaboration, sharing best practices, and publicly reporting information that health care organizations can use to benchmark and compare their performance. WCHQ’s membership includes Wisconsin’s integrated health systems, hospitals, medical clinics and independent physician groups. Visit WCHQ.org for more information.

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