In June, after hundreds of phone calls, letters, e-mails and months of intense lobbying, WHA and its members secured the first Medicaid hospital payment increase in years. By a unanimous and unprecedented bipartisan vote of 16-0, the Joint Finance Committee adopted a Medicaid package that included the $11.8 million increase ($5 million state funds, $6.8 million federal funds) in its version of the 2005-07 state budget bill.

That all went down the drain with one stroke of Governor Jim Doyle’s veto pen earlier this week. Governor Doyle used his veto powers (some of the strongest in the country) to strike 139 items from the state budget adopted by the Legislature, including the outpatient rate increase.

"It’s been a frustrating past couple of days for everyone in health care, no doubt," said WHA Senior Vice President Eric Borgerding. "We have seen a modest, yet very significant, increase in MA payments for hospitals – the first in years — wiped out by a veto. Nursing homes, including those supported by hospitals, have seen a modest 1.4 percent increase wiped out by a veto. We are staring another MA deficit in the face, and on top of all that, the new state Supreme Court has turned our envied medical liability system on its head. I can’t think of much else the government could do right now to increase the cost of health care for employers, employees, and their families."

Governor Doyle followed through on the commitment he made in February to provide over $800 million more dollars for public education, even if that means less money for other programs, like Medicaid. In his February 8 budget address, Doyle said, "The federal government is forcing states to choose between funding education or funding Medicaid – and that is dead wrong…what’s most important is that we have a Medicaid budget that is balanced, that doesn’t rob education, and that protects health care for those who need it most."

Governor Doyle’s vetoes resulted in a $94 million GPR cut from the Medicaid package adopted by the Legislature, including: $13 million in reduced payments to pharmacists, $15 million from vetoed nursing home rate increases, and $5 million from the hospital outpatient increase. That leaves a hole of $61 million in Medicaid that was not present in the Joint Finance version of the budget. And it is unclear how that $61 million deficit will be plugged during the current biennium.

"The state cannot afford this level of increase," Governor Doyle said of the $5 million GPR increase for outpatient payments in his veto message. "Furthermore, providing hospitals a rate increase while all other providers have gone without increases for years is simply not fair."

The increase in outpatient hospital payments approved by the Legislature and vetoed by Governor Doyle represented just 0.019 percent of the General Purpose Revenue (GPR) budget signed by the Governor, about 0.14 percent of the GPR spending for Medicaid, and about 0.58 of the increase in K-12 spending signed by Doyle.

"This was a modest, yet important improvement in outpatient payment rates, the first payment increase for hospitals in almost a dozen years," said WHA President Steve Brenton. "I understand K-12 is the Governor’s top priority, but it should not be Wisconsin’s only priority."

Hospitals absorbed almost $80 million in Medicaid cuts in the 2003-05 budget, $20 million less than the amount originally sought by the Governor. According to hospital officials, the budget Governor Doyle introduced last February was an improvement over 2003-05 in that it included only $10 million in cuts. "Avoiding cuts simply cannot continue to be viewed as progress in Medicaid," said Brenton.

Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee, was incensed by the vetoes and the amount of dollars shifted from MA and other programs to K-12. Fitzgerald is looking closely at pursuing a veto override or other forms of challenge. "I don’t know if Jim Doyle could accomplish all the things he claims to have done through the partial veto without crossing the line and exceeding his authority," Fitzgerald said. "If that turns out to be the case, we will use any means at our disposal to rein him in and undo the damage he has done to this budget."

Rep. Kitty Rhoades (R-Hudson), a member of the Joint Committee on Finance who was instrumental in crafting the bipartisan Medicaid package vetoed by the Governor, also reacted sharply to the news. "The Governor has said this budget is about his priorities. Based on his actions today, it is clear that his priorities do not include the health care of seniors, the disabled and low-income families," Rhoades said. "The Legislature made both education and the care of Wisconsin’s most vulnerable our priorities because we have the moral obligation to do so," she said. "We can and must care for both generations, not fund one at the expense of the other."

Sounding a WHA theme from the budget deliberations, Rhoades said she was concerned that more health care costs will be shifted "onto the backs of everyone who pays for their own health care." In other words, Wisconsin’s "hidden health care tax" will only get worse.

Senate Minority Leader Judy Robson (D-Beloit) commented on Medicaid funding to a gathering of Beloit Memorial Hospital staff earlier this week (see article on page 6). Though Robson made no direct mention of outpatient reimbursement rates in her prepared remarks, in answering a question on a veto of the increases, she said, "It’s a shame you have to pit children against older people and those who need assistance…it’s not the way to do things."

Despite the veto, WHA looks back on the budget with some satisfaction given the bipartisan nature of the Medicaid package and that fact that a rate increase was put on the Governor’s desk. "We are very disappointed with the veto," said Borgerding. "But at the same time, we appreciate the efforts of both Republicans and Democrats who unanimously supported the Medicaid package and the increase in hospital payments. We look forward to working with them in the near future to address ongoing Medicaid concerns."

The rest of the budget is a mixed bag of good and bad news for other WHA priorities, including:

Supplemental Hospital MA Programs: Governor Doyle proposed substituting one-time dollars from bonding and transfers from Patients Compensation Fund to replace GPR in seven hospital supplemental MA programs, including EACH, GME, and the Rural Hospital supplement. The Governor also proposed a base funding increase in GME that was hailed by WHA. The Legislature substituted GPR for the Governor’s proposed one-time funding and retained his GME increase. The Governor did not veto this change.

"The base increase for teaching hospitals (GME), and preserving GPR funding for supplemental programs is very good news," said Borgerding "We appreciate the GME increase as it was proposed by the Governor and retained by the Legislature."

Hospital Tax: The Governor chose not to include a new tax on hospitals to capture federal dollars for MA and other budget proposals. The Legislature also rejected any new hospital tax, deleted increases in the existing tax on nursing homes and nixed a new tax on HMOs the Governor had proposed.

"One of the unfortunate and very troubling messages the vetoes send is that it appears any provider reimbursement increases must now come from provider tax schemes," said Brenton. "Given the fact that many of those dollars never even go to health care providers, that is a road we do not want to go down. The State of Wisconsin, not private payers of health care services, should pay for its Medicaid obligations."

Nursing Homes Rate Increase: Governor Doyle vetoed a modest inflation increase in nursing home payments, noting that the Legislature rejected a higher tax on private pay patients that could have paid for the increase. "Many of our state’s nursing homes are owned, and kept open, by hospitals," Brenton said. "The veto will assure an even greater strain on both nursing homes and the hospitals that subsidize them."

Chippewa Dental Clinic: The Governor signed into law an allocation of $400,000 over the biennium for a dental clinic in Chippewa Falls that will serve primarily Medicaid/BadgerCare and uninsured patients. "WHA is extremely pleased with the work of the Joint Finance Committee and the Governor in making this dental access issue a priority," said Bill Bazan, WHA Vice President, Metro Milwaukee. "Wisconsin is in a crisis mode when it comes to dental and oral health access. This allocation of dollars will go a long way to help alleviate the crisis in the Eau Claire/Chippewa Falls area."

HIRSP: The Legislature included in its budget the privatization of the Health Insurance Risk Sharing Plan (HIRSP), transforming HIRSP into a nonprofit organization governed by a board of directors nominated by the Commissioner of Insurance and approved by the Senate. The Governor vetoed this privatization citing the broad authority of the board and "extremely limited state oversight."

STAC Funding: Nearly $545,000 for the funding of nine regional coordinator positions, and $94,000 for a state position to monitor trauma system development, was signed into law by the Governor. "WHA profoundly thanks Sen. Ron Brown (R–Eau Claire) for championing this budget item. As a former fire chief with responsibilities for emergency medical services, Sen. Brown knows the importance of a statewide trauma system for Wisconsin," said Bill Bazan, WHA.

HMOs: The Governor vetoed a provision in current law that requires MA to pay HMOs through capitation rates that are "actuarially sound," stating that it duplicates existing federal law. The provision is similar to the "Boren Amendment" that once existed under federal law for hospitals. Since the Boren Amendment was repealed in 1997, hospitals percent of cost reimbursed under Medicaid has plunged from 85 percent of cost to around 52 percent of cost.

"The disappointing vetoes, which erased modest provider rate increases while opening a $61 million hole in the new Medicaid budget, guarantee that Medicaid will remain at the top of WHA’s advocacy agenda," noted Brenton. "Our continuing challenge will be to sustain the hard-won progress to date of making Medicaid a priority."

In a press release issued July 28, Assembly Speaker John Gard (R-Peshtigo) announced that he is creating a task force to examine protecting health care for Wisconsin residents after the recent Supreme Court decision that threw out caps on non-economic damages. For a decade, Wisconsin law capped excessive non-economic, pain and suffering awards. The ruling leaves Wisconsin vulnerable to a mass exodus of health care professionals.

"This shortsighted ruling jeopardizes quality health care for every resident in the state, especially for folks in rural areas," Gard said, "Wisconsin was a nationwide model for medical malpractice reform. That law made us a destination state for good doctors. We will work hard this fall to regain that title."

Representative Curt Gielow will lead the task force. Joining Representative Gielow will be Assembly Majority Leader Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem), Representative Ann Nischke (R-Waukesha), Representative Jason Fields (D-Milwaukee) and Representative Bob Ziegelbauer (D-Manitowoc). Five public members will also serve on the task force. Those members will be announced in the near future. Speaker Gard says it is crucial to find a solution before quality doctors begin fleeing the state.

"Fewer quality doctors mean an increased likelihood of malpractice cases and malpractice lawsuits," Gard said, "With no cap on non-economic damages, health care costs will skyrocket, doctors will flee the state and quality health care – especially in rural parts of the state – will become scarce."

The Supreme Court threw out Wisconsin’s ten-year-old statutes protecting patients and doctors from paying for excessive pain and suffering lawsuits. In 1995, Assembly Republicans led the fight to bring lawsuit reform to Wisconsin. It is worth noting that Wisconsin has no cap for economic damages. Injured patients can be fully compensated for their loss of work and medical costs.

Gard says he is confident the task force will come up with legislation to restore Wisconsin’s reputation for quality health care in time for the fall session.

WHA President Steve Brenton received the news of Speaker Gard’s Task Force as a sign that the Legislature recognizes what a serious situation this is for the state. "WHA applauds Speaker Gard’s rapid response to what could become a medical malpractice crisis in this state if we don’t act appropriately and in a timely manner," Brenton said.

Two important but disappointing developments over the past few days now set the stage for WHA’s advocacy efforts for the coming weeks and months.

Medicaid – Governor Doyle’s veto of a $5 million ($12 million All Funds) increase in hospital outpatient payments and steerage of those funds to K-12 is significant…not so much for the modest dollars involved but for the signal it sends to providers of Medicaid services.

That payment increase, the first using "real" money in almost a decade for hospitals, had been adopted on a bipartisan, 16-0 vote in the Joint Finance Committee as part of the Legislature’s version of the budget. The outpatient payment increase, along with partial restoration of medical education payments slashed in 2003 (not vetoed), reflected modest progress for hospitals during this year’s budget battles. But the new hospital spending, along with an inflationary increase for nursing home providers, was wiped out by Governor Doyle’s veto pen in the name of higher K-12 spending growth. It’s understandable that K-12 is the Administration’s top priority, but it’s just plain wrong that K-12 is the only priority for new spending.

WHA estimates that Medicaid currently pays hospitals less than 55 cents on the dollar for care provided to Medicaid beneficiaries. Some hospitals are paid less than $100 for outpatient surgeries costing thousands of dollars to perform. As a result of continuing payment cuts, hospitals serving high numbers of Medicaid patients are struggling to remain financially viable.

As we develop WHA’s longer term Medicaid agenda, it will be necessary to understand just why Medicaid is being pitted against public education as a state budget priority. And it’s also time to resurrect the tobacco tax as a legitimate funding source for improving rates of payment for Wisconsin’s beleaguered Medicaid providers.

Medical Malpractice – The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision overturning statutory caps on awards for pain, suffering and loss of companionship has destroyed this state’s favorable medical malpractice environment. Simply put, Wisconsin can no longer brag about being a destination for beleaguered physicians seeking relief from skyrocketing medical malpractice premiums. Volatility in premiums, defensive medicine and higher health care costs are our future.

Looking forward, it’s highly likely that the GOP-led Wisconsin Legislature will craft a new law that can address the court’s concerns while continuing to limit huge verdicts for non-economic damages. But that new law must stand the uncertain test of a potential Doyle Administration veto and satisfy the Wisconsin Supreme Court. If either of those scenarios fails, amending the Wisconsin constitution is the only recourse…an expensive, time-consuming and uncertain remedy.

WHA will join forces with the Wisconsin Medical Society, the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and other organizations seeking to educate the public and advance a legislative "fix" with all due speed.

Steve Brenton
President

An outstanding agenda has been developed for the WHA 2005 Annual Convention. This year’s event is scheduled for September 21-23, 2005, at the Kalahari Resort & Convention Center in Wisconsin Dells.

Keynote speaker James Reinertsen, MD, will begin the convention with a discussion of the changes and challenges faced by successful health care leaders in this current era of transparency, including quality, pricing and community benefit reporting. Reinertsen heads an independent consulting and teaching practice that helps health care leaders create organizational environments in which the work of doctors and nurses can thrive. He practiced rheumatology for 20 years and was a respected CEO of health systems in Boston and Minneapolis for 15 years. He is currently a senior fellow for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) heading its leadership development sector, and was a subcommittee member of the IOM’s work that produced "To Err is Human" and "Crossing the Quality Chasm."

Thursday afternoon will be devoted to the issue of community benefit measurement and reporting, and will include an update from the WHA Task Force on Community Benefits, a "lessons learned" session from an Illinois hospital that recently lost its tax-exempt status, and a panel highlighting some innovative community benefit activities in Wisconsin hospitals.

The full conference brochure with registration information is currently available on-line at www.wha.org. It will also be included in WHA’s Friday Packet on August 5, so watch for it.

Nearly 40 Beloit Memorial Hospital staff members gathered July 25 to hear Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, Sen. Judy Robson (D-Beloit) and Rep. Chuck Benedict (D-Beloit) address current federal and state issues impacting hospitals. Issues receiving the most discussion were the recent Supreme Court decision eliminating caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases and Medicaid funding in the state budget bill.

On the Supreme Court’s decision on medical malpractice caps and the potential for the federal Congress to quickly take up liability legislation, Cong. Baldwin said, "I have never believed we should take a national approach to this issue. Wisconsin has shown that you can manage this effectively at the state level."

Sen. Robson said she believed the ruling did not say all caps were unconstitutional but that the trick would be figuring out what is constitutional. "As a legislative leader in the Senate, I’m committed to finding middle ground on the caps." She added her feeling that both sides cannot look at this issue as a "turf battle."

Rep. Benedict, a retired neurosurgeon, said he thought Wisconsin was a "model state for practicing medicine and that was, in part, due to the malpractice liability environment."

A recent survey found 44 percent of those living in southern Illinois indicate having lost a doctor because he or she left a practice or moved out of state to escape high medical liability insurance premiums. Beloit Memorial Hospital CEO Greg Britton provided a real-life example of this statistic to legislators. "We have a physician who joined our staff after leaving Illinois because of their malpractice environment."

Sen. Robson then tackled Medicaid funding in the state budget bill. She was pleased Graduate Medical Education (GME) for teaching hospitals received funding but wished other initiatives, such as electronic medical records, would have received an increase.

When asked about a potential veto of hospital reimbursement rate increases, Sen. Robson indicated it would be a shame for the needs of public education to be pitted against the needs of the elderly and disabled.

But as hospitals know, Governor Doyle did veto the modest increases to outpatient reimbursement rates - even though those increases were approved in an overwhelming bipartisan vote. The Legislature is currently discussing whether or not it will try to override the Governor’s veto of Medicaid funding.

HEAT Recognizes…
Aurora Employees for 250 contacts to Governor Doyle on budget bill

As Governor Doyle digested the budget bill over the past few weeks, some 250 Aurora employees made sure to make their voices heard. Employees sent emails, letters and called the Governor’s office to urge he approve Graduate Medical Education funding and increased outpatient reimbursement rates. Thank you!

Has your hospital made strides in grassroots advocacy? HEAT is interested in hearing from you! Contact Jenny Boese at 608-268-1816 or at jboese@wha.org so WHA can showcase your efforts in The Valued Voice!

On July 21, several attorneys who represent hospitals and other health care providers met at WHA to explore possible statutory solutions to the issues raised by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in its Ferdon decision that found Wisconsin’s cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases unconstitutional. The goal of any fix is to reestablish Wisconsin’s balanced medical liability system, averting a return to the medical liability crisis Wisconsin suffered before the cap. The experiences of other states suggest that without a balanced system, access to health care throughout the state would be harmed, but most particularly in rural and inner city areas.

WHA was pleased that some of the leading health care attorneys in the state volunteered their time to work on this critical issue. Participants included attorneys from the firms of Quarles & Brady LLP, Gardner Carton & Douglas LLP, Axley Brynelson, LLP, and Otjen, Van Ert, Lieb & Weir, S.C.; WHA member hospitals Froedert & Community Health – Milwaukee; Mercy Health System – Janesville; Aspirus Wausau Hospital, and Dean/St. Marys – Madison; and the Wisconsin Medical Society.

"WHA is committed to bringing to the legislature a solution that will help avoid a health care liability crisis that is impairing access to health care in at least twenty states across the country," said WHA Senior Vice President Eric Borgerding. "WHA very much appreciates the work on this."

"A well-crafted system to reward excellent performance would be an important stimulant to the work that hospitals and health care professionals already are doing to improve care," former AHA board member Leo Brideau told the Senate Finance Committee today. Testifying for the AHA at a hearing looking into "pay for performance," Brideau, president and CEO of Columbia St. Mary’s in Milwaukee, cited the success of the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA), a public/private collaboration among the AHA, government agencies and other organizations working together to make information public about hospital quality.

Brideau, who chaired a special AHA Board committee exploring options for future forms of payment for hospitals, physicians and other providers, praised Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Max Baucus (D-MT) for introducing legislation that represents "a good first step in moving our payment system forward to embrace the concept of pay for performance." He urged that the hospital-related provisions be amended "to specify that the HQA measures and process are to be used" in determining how to reward excellence, thus avoiding the potential for "a parallel and duplicative quality measurement system." He noted that, with more than 99 percent of eligible hospitals reporting quality measures under the current incentive of market basket minus 0.4 percentage points, the bill’s proposed penalty of a 2 percentage point market basket reduction for hospitals not reporting is unnecessary.

Brideau also expressed concern that the bill as written would fund pay for performance by ultimately reducing hospital inpatient payment amounts by 2 percentage points from their standardized amount, and expressed the AHA’s willingness to work with the committee on other sources of funding. The testimony is available at www.aha.org under "What’s New."

WHA has received notice that the Wisconsin Society of Anesthesiologists has filed a petition with the Medical Examining Board (MEB) requesting a Declaratory Ruling confirming that Wisconsin statutes require physician supervision of CRNAs. Under Wisconsin statutes, the MEB has discretion in deciding to accept the petition and proceed to hearing. Information will be shared with members as the MEB considers and determines whether or not to act on this petition.

For more information, contact Laura Leitch or Judy Warmuth at 608-274-1820.

As a Global Vision Award winner, the program was presented with a $2,000 unrestricted grant in 2003. That grant money was used to grow and tailor the number and types of retreats, said Sue Abitz, executive director for the Breast Cancer Recovery Foundation, sponsor of the Infinite Boundaries retreat program. For example, since winning the Global Vision Award in 2003, Infinite Boundaries has created a retreat specifically for women under the age of 40 who’ve been diagnosed and treated for breast cancer, said Abitz. In 2006, the program will expand to a retreat specifically for women whose cancer has returned.

Beyond the financial support, "receiving the award gave our program credibility," said Abitz, when seeking additional hospital support for the retreats. To say that the program was honored by the WHA Foundation is "almost like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval."

A variety of Wisconsin hospitals are supporters of Infinite Boundaries, both financially and by spreading the word about the program. Oncology nurses identify patients that they think could benefit from participation, "almost as an extension of their treatment," said Abitz. The hospitals then cover the cost of the retreat for their patients, in most cases through funds raised by the hospitals auxiliary or from their hospital’s own foundation.

Your collaborative project can, too, be honored with a 2005 Global Vision Award, by completing the nomination form and returning it to WHA Foundation by August 5, 2005. To be eligible for selection, the community health initiative/project must be:

• Nominated by a WHA member
• Be in existence for a minimum of two years
• Address a documented community health need, using a creative or innovative approach
• Incorporate a collaborative approach/partnership in the development and implementation of the project
• Produce measurable results

The 2005 award winners will be honored at a luncheon at the WHA Annual Convention in September and receive a $2,500 unrestricted grant. A nomination form is included in this week’s packet and is available on-line at www.wha.org. Again, nominations for the 2005 Global Vision Partnership Award are due by 5 pm on August 5.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released its 2006 Outpatient Prospective Payment System proposed rule, which would implement changes required by the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA). Here are some highlights:

• The proposed rule includes a 3.2 percent market basket update; however, when combined with other MMA policy changes and changes to outlier policy, outpatient payments will increase by only 1.9 percent.
• Also as required by the MMA, the rule proposes to end "hold harmless" payments for small rural hospitals and for rural sole community hospitals (SCHs). However, based on an MMA-required study, CMS proposes to increase payments to SCHs by 6.6 percent in 2006.
• CMS proposes to pay for most separately payable drugs at the rate of average sales price (ASP) plus 6 percent. In addition, CMS proposes to add another 2 percent of ASP to account for pharmacy overhead costs.
• CMS proposes to reduce the target for outlier payments from 2 percent to 1 percent of total outpatient spending. To meet the target, the agency proposes to increase to $1,575 the fixed-dollar threshold that would have to be met for a service to qualify for an outlier payment.
• The rule would apply a 50 percent payment reduction when multiple imaging procedures within the same imaging category are performed in the same session.

Watch for a WHA summary of the rule in the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, the proposed rule is available at: www.cms.hhs.gov/providers/hopps/.

The proposed rule will be published in the July 25 Federal Register. Comments will be accepted until September 16, 2005, and a final rule is expected by November 1, 2005.

On July 19, representatives from several Wisconsin organizations came together to set the direction for a new statewide patient safety committee. Supported by MetaStar, "Safe Care Wisconsin: Partners for Advancing Health Care Safety" plans to further the commitment to safe health care that was initiated by the Wisconsin Patient Safety Institute. The mission of Safe Care Wisconsin is to "facilitate the development of partnerships to promote the safest health care in Wisconsin." The committee plans to educate and engage consumers as partners to create safe interactions with their health care providers. It will also convene stakeholders on a regular basis to facilitate communication of existing safety improvement activities.

Current organizational members of Safe Care Wisconsin include:

• Aspirus, Inc.
• Aurora Health Care
• Children’s Hospital and Health Systems
• Covenant Healthcare System, Inc.
• Dean Health System
• Greater Milwaukee Business Foundation on Health
• Madison Patient Safety Collaborative
• Medical College of Wisconsin
• MetaStar
• Touchpoint Health Plan
• UW Medical Foundation
• UW Hospital and Clinics
• Visonex
• WI Department of Employee Trust Funds
• WI Education Administration Trust
• WI Hospital Association
• WI Manufacturers & Commerce
• WI Medical Society
• WI Nursing Association
• WI Organization of Nurse Executives

For information, contact Dana Richardson at WHA at drichardson@wha.org or 608-274-1820.

Register today for Fred Lee’s service excellence and patient loyalty workshop, scheduled for August 18. This program will take a critical look at service excellence initiatives, quality and performance improvement efforts, and patient satisfaction surveys. This program is filled with pertinent stories and practical examples, which will leave attendees inspired with fresh insight.

Each attendee will receive a copy of Lee’s award-winning book, If Disney Ran Your Hospital – 9 ½ Things You Would Do Differently, named the 2005 James A. Hamilton Book of the Year by the American College of Healthcare Executives.

The seminar will be held on August 18, 2005, from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm at Country Springs Hotel & Convention Center in Stevens Point. A brochure with registration form is available on-line at www.wha.org. A special team registration rate for three or more attendees per facility is available.

The Wisconsin Chapter of ACHE is presenting a workshop entitled "Medical Staff Relations" on September 23, following the adjournment of the WHA Annual Meeting.

Few issues have greater impact on the success of a health care organization or an individual health care executive than that of medical staff relations. Understanding how to foster strong relationships between the medical staff and the organization can pay immeasurable benefits.

Panelists will share successful strategies for involving the medical staff in decision-making and planning and how to align the medical staff with organizational strategies. Attendees will learn some of the most effective communication vehicles to use with medical staff, what to do when medical staff competes with you, and how to deal with "oppositional factors" within the medical staff.

This program has been developed and is presented locally by the Wisconsin Chapter of ACHE. The American College of Healthcare Executives has awarded one (1) Category I (ACHE education) credit hour to this program.

The presenting panel will include John Rosing, MHA, FACHE, practice director of accreditation and regulatory services for the Greeley Company, who will act as moderator; Frank Byrne, MD, president of St. Marys Hospital Medical Center of Madison; James Casanova, MD, CPE, FACHE, senior vice president for medical affairs and chief medical officer for Aspirus Wausau Hospital of Wausau; and Michael Unger, MD, vice president of medical affairs for Community Memorial Hospital of Menomonee Falls.

The conference will be held at the conclusion of the WHA Annual Convention, on Friday, September 23, 2005, from 10:45 am to 12 pm at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells. There is no cost to register for this event, but pre-registration is requested. A brochure with registration form is included in this week’s packet and on the web site at www.wha.org. Easy, on-line registration is available as well.

The AHA announced winners of the "Circle of Life Award" that recognizes innovative end-of-life care programs. Receiving a Citation of Honor was Froedtert Hospital & Medical College of Wisconsin Palliative Care Program in Milwaukee, for having one of the longest and strongest palliative care histories, often caring for Medicaid and uninsured patients.

This is the sixth year for the Circle of Life Award. The awards, supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, are sponsored by the American Hospital Association in conjunction with the American Medical Association, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging.

U.S. News & World Report Names Four Wisconsin Hospitals to "Best" List

Named to the "Best Hospitals" list by U.S. News & World Report by category were:

Urology: St. Luke’s Medical Center, Milwaukee and UW Hospital & Clinics, Madison
Kidney Disease: Froedtert Hospital, Milwaukee and  UW Hospital & Clinics, Madison
Digestive Disorders: Aspirus Wausau Hospital and UW Hospital & Clinics, Madison
Cancer: UW Hospital & Clinics, Madison
Ear, Nose & Throat: UW Hospital & Clinics, Madison
Geriatrics: Aurora Sinai Medical Center, Milwaukee and UW Hospital & Clinics, Madison
Heart/Heart Surgery: Aspirus Wausau Hospital
Hormonal Disorders: UW Hospital & Clinics, Madison

VHA Recognizes Four Wisconsin Hospitals with Leadership Awards

VHA recently named the 2005 Leadership Award Winners. These awards recognize VHA member organizations that have differentiated themselves by demonstrating extraordinary levels of performance in clinical excellence, operational excellence and supply chain management improvement.

Wisconsin hospitals that received the Award for clinical excellence included:

Lakeview Medical Center, Rice Lake, Wisconsin; Heart Failure
Gundersen Lutheran Hospital, La Crosse; Acute Myocardial Infarction
Meriter Health Services, Madison, Wisconsin; Surgical Infection Prevention
Theda Clark Medical Center, Neenah, Wisconsin; Acute Myocardial Infarction

Diane Postler-Slattery has been named president and chief operating officer of Aspirus Wausau Hospital. Postler Slattery joined Aspirus Wausau Hospital in 1987. She received a Doctorate Degree in Education Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1995 and a Master’s Degree in Nursing Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 1988.

Postler-Slattery is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and a Board Member for the Aspirus Visiting Nurses Association, Wausau Conservatory of Music, Hope Pregnancy Resource Center, Wausau Child Care, and United Way of Marathon County. She also is past President for United Cerebral Palsy Board for Central Wisconsin, and is a graduate of the 1999 class of Leadership Wausau.

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