All columns are written by WHA President Steve Brenton, unless otherwise indicated.

2012

5-18-12: President’s Column: Health Reform: 24 Months Later...On the Brink

5-11-12: President’s Column: Radiological Procedures Added to WHA's PricePoint Website

5-4-12: Guest Column: Meeting Child Health Needs (By Karen Ordinans, Executive Director, Children's Health Alliance of Wisconsin)

5-4-12: Guest Column: A Place We are Not Coming Back From (By Eric Borgerding, WHA Executive Vice President)

4-27-12: President’s Column: A Tale of Two States -- Fiscal Sustainability vs. Fiscal Catastrophe

4-13-12: President’s Column: WHA Member Acknowledgements . . . Past and Present

4-6-12: President’s Column: Top Legislative Session Health Law, IPAB vs. Premium Support, Shocking Ignorance and the Cost of Public Employee Benefits. . .

4-6-12: Guest Column: It's Time to Challenge Mental Health Policy that is Slowing Holistic Treatment" (By Jerry L. Halvorson, MD, President-Elect, Wisconsin Psychiatric Association, and Matthew Stanford, JD, VP, Wisconsin Hospital Association)

4-6-12: Guest Column: Why I Support Advocacy Day (By Therese Pandl, President HSHS Eastern Division, including St. Vincent Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital in Green Bay and St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan)

4-6-12: Guest Column: Rankings Provide Key Information for Creating Healthy Communities" (By Dean Gruner, President and CEO, ThedaCare)

3-30-12: Guest Column: Community Health Needs Assessment: What's On Board and What's "Over Board?" (By David Edquist, Attorney, von Briesen & Roper, s.c.)

3-30-12: Guest Column: Why I Support Advocacy Day (By Nick Turkal, President & CEO, Aurora Health Care and immediate past WHA Board Chair)

3-23-12: President’s Column: AARP is MIA on Long-term Medicare Sustainability

3-16-12: President’s Column: Upper Midwest Shines in First Ever National Report Card

3-16-12: Guest Column: Why I Support Advocacy Day (By Brian Kief, President, Ministry St. Joseph's Hospital, Marshfield)

3-16-12: Guest Column: HRSA Issues Program Notice Addressing Ongoing 340B Program Audits (By Todd Nova, Attorney, Hall Render Killian Heath and Lyman)

2-24-12: President’s Column: SGR Fire Drill Symptom of Broken Medicare FFS System

2-24-12: Guest Column: Why I Attend Advocacy Day (By Sandy Anderson, WHA Chair, President, St. Clare Hospital, Baraboo)

2-17-12: President’s Column: President Obama Piles on - Budget Takes Multiple Whacks at Hospital Piñata

2-17-12: Guest Column: WHA Releases Workforce Report (By Judy Warmuth, WHA Vice President, Workforce Development)

2-10-12: President’s Column: Hospitals Have Become the Medicare Piñata

1-27-12: President’s Column: Hospital Associations’ Letter to President Obama to "fix" Wage Index Manipulation

1-13-12: President’s Column: Partners for Patients Initiative...Key 2012 Priority

2011

12-30-11: President’s Column: "From the Cutting Room Floor - Good Out-takes from 'Results'"

12-22-11: Guest Column: Another View: Wisconsin’s Physician Shortage (By Duane Erwin)

12-22-11: President’s Column: Holiday Season Ushers in Rare Bipartisanship…Tidings of Joy!

12-16-11: President’s Column: Health Care Cost News Brings Holiday Cheer for SE Wisconsin Purchasers

12-9-11: Guest Column: State faces looming physician shortage (By Tim Size, Executive Director, Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative)

12-2-11: President’s Column: It's December, so it Must be Time for Another Physician Payment Crisis

11-23-11: President’s Column: 100 New Physicians a Year: An Imperative for Wisconsin

11-18-11: President’s Column: Not So Super

11-11-11: Guest Column: Hospitals Contribute to Physical and Economic Health in Wisconsin (By Mary Kay Grasmick, WHA Vice President, Communications)

10-28-11: President’s Column: WHA Board Approves Health Reform Priorities

10-7-11: Guest Column: Our Plan to Repair Medicaid (By Dennis G. Smith, Secretary, Department of Health Services)

9-30-11: Guest Column: Wisconsin Hospitals Fundraising Campaign 2011 Update (By David Olson, 2011 Advocacy Chair)

9-23-11: President's Column: Rural Health Care Takes Big Hit in Obama Budget Proposals

9-9-11: Guest Column: Some Thoughts on Physician Retention (By Kurt Mosley, VP of Strategic Alliances with Merritt Hawkins and Staff Care)

9-9-11: President's Column: The Business Case for Health Information Exchange Just Got Clearer

9-2-11: Guest Column: What's New in Quality (By Kelly Court, WHA Chief Quality Officer)

8-26-11: President's Column: Are YOU Prepared for ICD-10?

8-19-11: President's Column: Three New Obstacles for Health Reform

8-12-11: President's Column: Massachusetts Money Grab - Next Steps

8-5-11: President's Column: Deficit Reduction Bill is New Glide Path to Big Provider Cuts-$100 Million Annually for Wisconsin Hospitals

7-22-11: Guest Column: Covenant v. Wauwatosa: Questions and Answers (By David Edquist, von Briesen & Roper)

7-15-11: President's Column: IPAB-The Most Dangerous Tool in the Tool Box

7-8-11: Guest Column: Opportunities for New Delivery Models Without Participation in the Medicare Shared Savings Program ( By C. Frederick Geilfuss, Partner, Foley & Lardner LLP)

7-8-11: Guest Column: The Peak is Never Passed ( By Eric Borgerding, WHA Executive Vice President)

7-1-11: Guest Column: Measuring Charity Care for Financial Reporting ( By Holly Pokrandt, Partner, Wipfli LLP)

7-1-11: President's Column: It's Been a Good Six Months for Wisconsin Health Care

6-10-11: Guest Column: Accountable Care - Where Do We Go from Here? ( By Nick Turkal, MD, WHA 2011 Board Chair)

6-10-11: President's Column: New Study Predicts Massive Migration to Insurance Exchanges in 2014

6-3-11: President's Column: Members Rate WHA Value High

5-27-11: President's Column: WHA Member Survey Results: Part 2

5-20-11: President's Column: WHA Member Survey Results Identify Top Priorities

4-22-11: President's Column: More Ugly Medicare Payment Hocus Pocus From CMS

4-15-11: President's Column: "Counterproductive and Asinine"

4-8-11: President's Column: Medicare and Medicaid

4-8-11: Guest Column: State Budget Brings Difficult Challenges "(By Nick Turkal, MD, 2011 WHA Board Chair)

4-1-11: Guest Column: Core Competencies in the New Era: A Final Reflection "(By William Petasnick, CEO, Froedtert Health)

4-1-11: Guest Column: Workplace Wellness-from Slogan to Reality "(Tim Size, Executive Director, Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, Sauk City)

3-25-11: President's Column: Happy Birthday...CheckPoint!

3-4-11: Guest Column: "Wisconsin Payment Reform Initiative: An Update "(By Karen Timberlake, Director, Wisconsin Payment Reform Initiative)

2-25-11: Guest Column: "If you had an opportunity to pitch the reasons why the President of the United States should visit your hospital, what would you say?"(By Mary Kay Grasmick, Editor, The Valued Voice)

2-18-11: President's Column: Member Survey Provides Foundation for WHA's Future Program Priorities

2-11-11: Guest Column: Seize Your Opportunity to Rate WHA's Effectiveness and Value ( By Nick W. Turkal, MD, WHA 2011 Board Chair and President/CEO, Aurora Health Care, Inc.)

2-11-11: President's Column: Gov. Walker Protects Medicaid in Budget Repair Bill, the Physician Pipe Line and ACA Waivers

2-4-11: President's Column: Medicaid Must be Protected as a "Safety Net" Program

1-28-11: President's Column: Historic Week for Health Care as Legislature Enacts Important Initiatives that will Enhance Coverage and Accelerate Clinical Performance Improvement

2010

12-30-10: Guest Column: "Privilege to Serve. . . "(By David Olson, 2010 WHA Board Chair)

12-30-10: President's Column: Looking Ahead to 2011 - Observations and Predictions

12-23-10: President's Column: The Usual Suspects Offer Up Lump of Coal

11-24-10: President's Column: The Antithesis of Health Delivery Reform

11-19-10: Guest Column: Co-Opinion: IPAB Bad Medicine for Wisconsin (Tommy Thompson, Former four-term Wisconsin Governor and Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Steve Brenton, President, Wisconsin Hospital Association)

11-19-10: Guest Column: Transparency Act's Report and Signage Requirements Begin January 1 (Attorneys at Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman)

11-12-10: Guest Column: The Election and What It Means for Our Issues: Part 2: Health Care Reform - Medicaid Mission Creep (Eric Borgerding, WHA Executive Vice President)

11-5-10: Guest Column: The Election and What It Means for Our Issues: Part 1: Health Care Reform - What Happens Now? (Eric Borgerding, WHA Executive Vice President)

10-29-10: President's Column: Remember PSOs? Here come ACOs

10-15-10: President's Column: SPECIAL INVITATION -- Save the Date

10-8-10: President's Column: Special Kudos to Ford Titus

9-24-10: President's Column: By the Numbers...It's Been an Eventful Week

9-10-10: President's Column: Medicare and Medicaid News . . . Grim Tidings

9-10-10: Guest Column: Health Reform and the Physician Workforce (By Kurt Mosley)

8-27-10: President's Column: Collaboration Cited as #1 Success Factor

8-20-10: Guest Column: Healthiest Wisconsin 2020: A Road Map to Improve Community Health Status (Frank Byrne, MD, President, St. Mary's Hospital, Madison)

8-13-10: President's Column: Big Medicare Cuts Looming Absent Congressional Action - Hospital Job Losses Likely

8-13-10: Guest Column: Quest for Property Tax Exemption Hits a Bump in the Road (Don M. Millis, Attorney, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, s.c.)

8-6-10: Guest Column: Wisconsin's (Non-Health Care) Economy: A New and Necessary WHA Priority (Eric Borgerding, WHA Executive Vice President)

7-30-10: Guest Column: Community Health Needs Assessment—Where do We Start? (Julie Willems Van Dijk, RN, PhD, Associate Scientist/Community Engagement Lead, University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute)

7-21-10: Guest Column: The Hospital Assessment is Working (Nick Turkal, President and CEO, Aurora Health Care)

7-16-10: President's Column: WHA to Co-sponsor Community Health Center Expansion Meeting August 25

7-9-10: Guest Column: Wisconsin Hospitals Fundraising Campaign 2010 Update (Mike Schafer, 2010 Advocacy Chair)

6-18-10: President's Column: Important Payment Issues Before Congress ... Right NOW!

6-4-10: Guest Column: New York Times Article Attacks Dartmouth Atlas, But Misses the Point (George Quinn, WHA Senior Vice President)

6-4-10: President's Column: Medicare Cuts Keep Piling Up

5-28-10: President's Column: Could Health Reform Really Be Repealed?

5-21-10: President's Column: Texas Physicians Saying No to Medicare in 2010 . . .

4-30-10: President's Column: The Big 3: FMAP Extension, MU Rule and IPPS Regulations

4-23-10: Guest Column: CMS Issues 2011 Proposed Inpatient Prospective Payment System Rule (by George Quinn, Senior Vice President, WHA)

4-9-10: Guest Column: Mitigating A Costly Mistake: Repeal, Replace with Real Reform (by Congressman Paul Ryan)

4-2-10: Guest Column: Health Care Reform: Implications for Tax-exempt Hospitals (David J. Edquist, von Briesen & Roper, s.c.)

3-26-10: Guest Column: A Value-Based Reimbursement System (By Congressman Ron Kind)

3-19-10: President's Column: Health Care Reform Debate is no Longer About Policy—But One Key Issue is Still in Play

3-12-10: President's Column: Spotlight Shining Brightly on Paul Ryan

2-26-10: President's Column: "Starting Bid" is Not a Serious Effort to Pass Meaningful Health Reform

2-19-10: President's Column: Thinking "Small" Might Get it Done

2-12-10: President's Column: A Disastrous Decision

2-5-10: President's Column: More News from Massachusetts

1-29-10: President's Column: Seriously Flawed Meaningful Use Regulations Require Attention

1-22-10: President's Column: So What Does Massachusetts Mean for Health Reform?

1-15-10: President's Column: The Hospital Assessment Worked

1-8-10: President's Column: Draft 2010 WHA Goals - Comments Welcome!