A Wisconsin health system CEO, William D. Petasnick, president of Froedtert and Community Health in Wisconsin, was honored in Washington DC as he assumed his duties as 2008 Chair of the American Hospital Association. During the Investiture Dinner held in his honor April 6 in Washington, Governor Jim Doyle presented a proclamation to Petasnick on behalf of the State of Wisconsin.

"We are so proud to see a Badger ascend to this high honor…if you want to see the job done right, you’ll want a person from Wisconsin," Doyle said.

WHA President Steve Brenton served as master of ceremonies at the Investiture Dinner.

"America’s hospitals are fortunate to have Bill at the helm at a time when health care reform is likely to take center stage," Brenton noted. "Bill’s acumen for advocacy and public policy will serve him well as AHA navigates the discussion and debate that will determine the nation’s health care future."

Petasnick presented the keynote address at the AHA Annual Meeting April 7 where he called on the nation’s hospitals to close ranks and push for national health reform in the upcoming elections.

"The upcoming election gives us a chance to do something previous generations have tried, but failed to accomplish – to fundamentally make health care better for everyone, regardless of race, zip code, gender or wealth," Petasnick said. "[W]e need to work together and we need to listen to one another if we are going to succeed in changing our non-system of health care into an efficient and coordinated one."

Describing his own passion for improving health care, Petasnick offered advice for how to achieve change given the economic and political complexities that surround health care reform.

"This time around, we must make the debate about ideas and transparency, not about old dogmas, partisan labels and personal ideologies," Petasnick said. "When it comes to health care, the only interest that should be special is our patient’s interest."

According to Petasnick, while change does not come quickly, "[t]ransforming health care will demand more consistent leadership and commitment than ever before."

Petasnick also spoke about what has driven him throughout his career in health care. "One of my greatest passions is the work we do on behalf of our patients," he said. "It’s the one constant purpose that everyone in this room shares. It’s the one common element that unites us."

And while competition is good in many ways – "having the Packers beat the Bears is a very good thing," the Wisconsin-born Petasnick said – in health care it can create barriers to collaboration and make reform more difficult. Petasnick encouraged health care leaders to work together to achieve necessary change.

"And, as we come together to chart a new and better course, our vision must be clear, our leadership strong, our voice unified."

Petasnick earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s in health care administration from the University of Minnesota. He is an adjunct associate professor of health management at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. In 2007, Petasnick received the first ever Honorary Doctorate in Health Management from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He also is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Petasnick and his wife Bobbe reside in the Milwaukee area. They have two grown children and three grandchildren.

Twenty individuals from Wisconsin hospitals traveled to Washington, DC this week for the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Annual Meeting and Capitol Hill visits. Hospital representatives met with each of Wisconsin’s 10 Members of Congress and/or their staff during their time in DC. This year’s trip was also an historic event as Wisconsin’s own Bill Petasnick, CEO of Froedtert & Community Health, became just the fourth Wisconsin hospital leader to be sworn in as AHA Board Chairman.

CEOs meet with Gov. Doyle in D.C.; urged to support BadgerCare Plus expansion

Several hospital and health system executives met this week in Washington with Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and Administration staff to discuss the BadgerCare Plus waiver for Childless Adults that was just submitted to CMS. Governor Doyle expressed appreciation for WHA’s support for the coverage expansion initiative and requested that hospital officials encourage members of the Wisconsin Congressional Delegation to embrace the proposal as an important step to achieve comprehensive health care reform.

"The Childless Adults initiative is an innovative approach to providing coverage for as many as 80,000 chronically uninsured adults whose primary health care portal is the hospital emergency department," said WHA President Steve Brenton. "WHA will work closely with the Doyle Administration to promote CMS approval of the waiver and then implement the program that will further advance the Governor’s goal of providing meaningful coverage for 98 percent of Wisconsin’s population."

Following the Monday morning meeting, Governor Doyle met with DHHS Secretary Mike Leavitt to pitch the waiver request. Reports are that the initial response was "highly positive" and that the necessary approval process will begin soon.

Attendees at the Doyle briefing were Leo Brideau, president CEO, Columbia St. Mary’s; Dan Neufelder, president and CEO, Affinity Health System, Inc.; Nicholas Dessien, president and CEO, Ministry Health Care; Mike Schafer, CEO/administrator, Spooner Health System; Duane Erwin, president/CEO, Aspirus; Robert Fale, president, Agnesian Health Care; and Steve Brenton, president, WHA.

"This new Childless Adults initiative has the potential of being a bipartisan approach to improving access to health care services for a very vulnerable population," said WHA Board Chair Ken Buser. "We are gratified with the initial response of our federal lawmakers and look forward to additional discussion."

Other issues hospital leaders discussed with Members of Congress included Wisconsin’s successful efforts to mitigate health care costs, as evidenced in several studies comparing the state to the region and nation; the Medicare budget; Critical Access Hospital issues; and CMS’ Recovery Audit Contractor program. Log on to www.wha.org/governmentRelations/federal_issues.aspx to review issue papers on any of the above-mentioned subjects.

St. Clare’s Sandy Anderson receives AHA Grassroots Champion Award

Each year the AHA honors one individual in each state with a "Grassroots Champion" award. This year’s recipient was Sandy Anderson, CEO, St. Clare Hospital & Health Services in Baraboo. The award recognizes individuals who are committed to engaging in grassroots advocacy on behalf of their hospitals and important health care issues.

"Sandy understands the value of established relationships with legislators, of being engaged in grassroots advocacy and of mobilizing on important issues," said WHA President Steve Brenton. "She regularly attends WHA grassroots events, like Advocacy Day, encourages membership in WHA’s grassroots program, HEAT, and so much more. She is well-deserving of this award, and we congratulate her."

Sandy has served on various WHA committees and boards, including the Board of Directors, and understands issues not only as they apply to her hospital and community, but to the state as a whole. For these reasons she is an outstanding and effective advocate who is always willing to "make the call" to her legislators.

"Sandy is a champion for St. Clare Hospital, its employees, patients and community and for hospitals across the state," said Jenny Boese, WHA vice president of external relations and member advocacy. "We are extremely grateful for her valued service and commitment."

Wisconsin Medicaid will soon issue official written guidance regarding provider use of National Provider Identifiers (NPIs) for Medicaid claims submissions and other transactions.

NPIs will be accepted on electronic Medicaid claims received on or after May 19, 2008. However, legacy Medicaid provider numbers must continue to be used for some transactions until the new Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) is implemented. In addition, the use of NPIs will not be mandatory until implementation of the MMIS, which is expected to occur on October 1.

All health care providers are encouraged to report their NPIs to Wisconsin Medicaid as soon as possible. NPIs may not be submitted on electronic claims until the week after they have been reported to Wisconsin Medicaid. The current system updates provider IDs each Friday.

Less than half of all providers, and only 25 percent of hospitals, had reported their NPIs to Wisconsin Medicaid as of April 1. WHA Information Center has already collected Wisconsin hospital NPIs as part of its transition to a UB-04-based data collection system and will be providing Medicaid with a complete list.

Registration is now open for the 2008 Wisconsin Rural Health Conference, scheduled June 18-20 at the beautiful Osthoff Resort on Elkhart Lake. This annual event is the forum for examining issues that impact small and rural hospitals most. This year’s theme is "Living Great Leadership," and we encourage you to make attendance for yourself, your senior staff and your trustees a priority. Take advantage of the opportunity to talk about similar issues and challenges rural health care providers face while trying to "live great leadership" both inside and outside your hospital each day.

The education portion of the event opens with a presentation by Todd Linden, FACHE, president and CEO of Grinnell Regional Medical Center, an 81-bed rural hospital in Grinnell, Iowa. Linden is an active leader within his hospital, his local community, throughout his state and nationally, via AHA. He will focus on the importance and challenges of developing leadership within a rural hospital and discuss strategies for accomplishing it with limited human and financial resources. Linden will also discuss the value of a hospital’s leadership role within its rural community, as both a critical part of the integrated health spectrum and a vital player in civic initiatives.

This year’s event will take full advantage of The Osthoff Resort’s beautiful setting on Elkhart Lake. As an alternative to the golf outing, one-hour sailboat cruises will be offered on Wednesday afternoon (space is limited). Plan to bring your families and guests to the Wednesday evening dinner on the shores of Elkhart Lake, in honor of WHA’s Corporate Champions and Partners, and with lots of family activities, including a bonfire, horse and carriage rides, a steel drum band, paddle boats and hydro-bikes, and more. Thursday’s lunch will be outside by the lake. Plan to join your colleagues for the Thursday evening race-themed reception and dinner, in the spirit of Road America in Elkhart Lake, for a great meal, networking, a chance to visit corporate member exhibitors, edge out your competition on the ‘racetrack,’ and more.

This year’s conference is once again offered in collaboration with MetaStar, Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, Wisconsin Office of Rural Health, and the Wisconsin Primary Health Care Association.

Governor Jim Doyle announced April 7 Secretary Kevin R. Hayden is leaving the Department of Health and Family Services, effective April 15, 2008. Secretary Hayden leaves his Cabinet post to return to the private sector, where he spent 23 years before joining state service. The Governor also announced that Karen Timberlake, current deputy secretary at the Department, has been appointed to succeed Hayden as Secretary.

Governor Doyle thanked Secretary Hayden for his strong leadership and outstanding service to the Department of Health and Family Services both as Secretary and the State’s Medicaid Director.

"Secretary Hayden has been an instrumental leader for the Department of Health and Family Services and a key player in increasing the access and affordability of health care for all Wisconsinites," Governor Doyle said. "His private sector perspective helped change the way Wisconsin purchases health care and his service will have a lasting impact."

"It has been the highest privilege for me to serve Governor Doyle and the people of Wisconsin," Secretary Hayden said. "My time as Secretary has been some of the most rewarding of my professional career. Governor Doyle has demonstrated extraordinary vision in shaping the future of health care and long term care in Wisconsin."

"Kevin can be proud of the many significant accomplishments that occurred during his tenure as DHFS Secretary," said WHA President Steve Brenton. "His work to expand coverage through new BadgerCare Plus initiatives, his championing of E-Health as a necessary strategy to improve patient safety and provider efficiency, and his special attention to the unique challenges facing Milwaukee hospitals and primary care clinics through his participation in the Milwaukee Healthcare Partnership effort demonstrated his personal commitment to improve access and coverage for Wisconsin patients and families." Brenton also noted that Secretary Hayden always stressed collaboration as the necessary approach for achieving significant and sustainable health reform.

Secretary Hayden’s accomplishments include:

• Working with Governor Doyle to implement BadgerCare Plus.
• Streamlining and modernizing the state’s Medicaid program to ensure better service and improved fiscal discipline.
• Leading the effort to pass legislation that breaks down barriers to electronic health information exchange, giving physicians and patients additional and more reliable information to make decisions about what health care treatment is best and safest.
• Launching a critical child welfare plan for the children of Milwaukee County and working with county partners to ensure that all Wisconsin children are healthy, safe and protected.

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WHA Partner’s President Diane Westbrook was one of four state auxiliary leaders chosen to present a "best practice" in community health education in Washington DC April 6. Westbrook spoke at the State Auxiliary Leaders Spring Invitational Meeting on Safe Care Wisconsin’s recently launched medication list project. The Safe Care project encourages people to write down their medications and carry the list.

Partners of Wisconsin Hospital Association selected the medication list project, and they will play an instrumental role in the education, promotion and distribution aspects of the project. Westbrook and Partners Education Chair Bonnie Olson have been enthusiastic promoters at the state level. Already many hospital auxiliaries have launched the project in their communities, including Fort Healthcare’s auxiliary. The goal is to have every member of the auxiliary in every hospital in the state fill out a medication list for themselves and one other person, which when all totaled will mean 26,000 medication lists could be completed by the Partners organization statewide.

Westbrook said it was an honor to be selected among all the auxiliary leaders in the United States to present at the national conference.

"It’s an important community health education project that can save lives. We are pleased to be able to work with our hospitals to help publicize and mobilize this important campaign in every community in Wisconsin," Westbrook said.

Westbrook and Olson expect more hospital auxiliaries will soon adopt the campaign following a series of membership meetings that Partners will hold starting later this month.

If you have not returned your Pride Program Awards Dinner Registration Form to WHA to officially register your honoree and any guests for the dinner, please do so ASAP. The deadline is Thursday, April 17. ALL dinner attendees must be pre-registered.

The Residency program is operated by the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, and also includes residency programs in Madison, Milwaukee, Appleton, Eau Claire and Baraboo.

"This shows the high quality of the education our department offers," said Kevin O’Connell, M.D., UW Wausau Family Medicine Residency Program Director. "The ranking helps Wisconsin attract the strongest candidates to our training programs."

According to the U.S. News & World Report Web site, rankings are based on expert opinion about program quality and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research and students. The data are compiled from surveys of more than 1,200 programs and 14,000 academics and professionals that were conducted in fall 2007.

Ranked ahead of the University of Wisconsin program were the University of Washington in Seattle and Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Ore., at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. The University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo., tied with the University of Wisconsin at No. 3 in the rankings.

Approximately 250 Baraboo children learned the importance of eating a rainbow of healthy foods last spring when Dorothy and her Rainbow Friends visited their classrooms.

"Eating from the Rainbow," an original Wizard of Oz-theme production about eating your fruits and vegetables, was presented to 12 Baraboo public and private third-grade classes throughout March as an outreach program of the St. Clare Health Care Foundation’s Pathways to Wellness Seminars Committee.

"We developed this 30-minute program as a fun and interactive way for children to receive the necessary tools to select foods wisely," explained St. Clare Health Care Foundation Director Keri Olson. "One of the goals of the St. Clare Foundation is to give back to the community as often and in as many ways as possible. In light of the increasing rate of childhood obesity, the Foundation’s Pathways to Wellness Seminars Committee decided that one way to help our community was to work with elementary school-age children so that they can begin developing healthy habits for life."

St. Clare Hospital Clinical Dieticians Lisa Krayer and Laurie Sachtjen and St. Clare Parish Nurse Geri Schoenoff took turns playing the lead character of Dorothy. Dorothy’s Rainbow Friends were portrayed by Baraboo School Nurses Diana Cone as Olivia Orange and Sheri Kujak as Rosie Red, and St. Clare Foundation Director Keri Olson as Gracie Green. During the presentations, each child learned how to play a fruits and veggies game, dined on a healthy snack, and received a "pocket pal" listing fruits and vegetables by color.

Each day at Westside Academy, students have aches and pains. One day, Andrea, 13, had a stomachache. Another day, Shaquille, 13, had a headache. Their discomfort distracted them from their schoolwork. Fortunately, each was able to see the school nurse for care. But that wasn’t always the case.

Since 2006, Froedtert Hospital has provided a nurse to serve Westside Academy as part of a community health partnership in a low-income, underserved neighborhood. Westside Academy, an independent charter school, is part of the Milwaukee Public Schools system.

In the past, when a student got a rash, toothache, stomachache or headache at school, he or she would often be sent home — when possible. If the school could not contact a parent, office personnel were placed in difficult situations. They were unable to dispense medicine to the students, but still had to make decisions, even for routine needs, due to basic concern for a child’s well-being. Uncertainty could linger about the wait to obtain permission from a parent, or to arrange timely access to a health care provider.

Such dilemmas, once common at Westside Academy, have gradually become less frequent. The school nurse offers student nursing care and case management during the school year and summer, with duties inclusive of coordinating services with parents and staff, to meet basic health needs for students. Classroom health education and wellness sessions facilitated by the nurse promote preventive health and early intervention. The school nurse also serves as liaison to the nearby Westside Healthcare Association, a community health center, to provide referrals and assist students and families in need of a primary health care home.

Froedtert covers the salary and associated costs for the full-time nurse to serve the combined student population of 660 children at two locations: Westside Academy I at 1945 N. 31st St., for Head Start through Grade 3, and Westside Academy II at 1940 N. 36th St., for Grades 4-8.

"When I had my headache, my teacher told me I could go see the school nurse," Shaquille said. "We had brought my medicine here, so it was better than calling home if you have an emergency. It can take a while to get to see a doctor when you have to go to a clinic somewhere." Shaquille said he was comforted both by the relief he received from treatment of his headache and the caring manner of the nurse.

With appropriate professional background and credentials, the nurse is able to explain health matters, clarify options and determine intervention needs, as well as seek, obtain and document permission from parents to dispense medication for children in need.

Preliminary outcomes show the availability of the nurse is highly likely to prevent major disruptions in student attendance, and it also provides psychosocial support for students.

During a four-month period in 2006, the Westside school nurse had the highest return-to-class rate — 89 percent compared to the average of 85 percent — for all other school nurses. This measure of how many students were able to remain at school versus being sent home or elsewhere due to health issues is significant, given the proven link between consistent school attendance and academic achievement.

The principal of Westside Academy, James Sonnenberg, clearly recognizes that health issues can interfere with how well children perform in school. "A lot of barriers exist for children and families, but basic needs — access to food, housing, clothing and health care — should be met," he said.

The collaborative relationship between Froedtert and Westside Academy demonstrates how resources promote mutual benefit. "We get a wonderful, full-time resource person who is available to work with students, and to assist their parents who often don’t know what to do about certain medical concerns," Sonnenberg said. "This is especially helpful when you consider that just taking care of the basic health needs for children will help lead to improved academic achievement. This is our school’s first partnership with a major health care institution, and Froedtert is a good corporate partner."

Rather than copays and deductibles, the valued-based design model focuses on behavior change. The use of medical, prescription drug, disability, performance, absenteeism, workers’ compensation, and presenteeism data can create a more robust picture than claims alone. This data helps benefit managers identify:

• What is driving the costs of unidentified or under-managed conditions;
• Those populations most at risk for health events;
• And, which incentives will lead to behavioral changes that will reduce financial and health risk.

Recent research from the consulting firm Towers Perrin show that high-performing employers (those with annual cost increases averaging five percent or less) tend to provide employees with more resources, including health care information and decision-support tools. These high-performing employers use several strategies at the benefit of both the organization and the employees:

• Commitment to supporting employees’ health and health care decisions
• Well-articulated strategies and rigorous metrics for evaluating program effectiveness
• Benefit designs that encourage transparency and accountability
• Asking employees what is important to them about their health
• Identifying commonalities between groups of employees
• Looking for linkages between employer and employee priorities
• Identifying benefits-usage patterns

For employee engagement to be successful, employers:

• Need to understand behavior motivation;
• Provide access to programs and services that both meet the needs of the various employee populations and lead to the employer’s desired outcomes;
• Publicize the successes of the emerging employee leaders; and,
• Encourage future successes.

In a short period of time, the success of early achievers will build a social network that inspires the viral expansion of the improved health behaviors that link personal and employer-based improvement.

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