December 5 - Wisconsin Medical Society Medigram
The Wisconsin Medical Society is excited to announce that WisMed Community – the new online community just for WisMed Members – will be live on Monday, December 9! This new member benefit will allow physicians to connect, collaborate and celebrate their successes.
Initially, there will be two community groups: WisMed Members (for general discussions about things like tips and recommendations) and Share a Success (for you to share the great work you or a colleague is doing to advance health care). More community groups will go live in the coming months including Advocacy in Action, so be sure to check back often.
Members will receive an email on Monday with information about how to get logged in and start connecting with colleagues. Please add connectedcommunity.org to your safe sender list so you stay connected.
Contact Anne Hauer with questions.
The Wisconsin Medical Society has partnered with the Medical College of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health to bring together experts on emerging health care trends within the transition zone of adolescents becoming young adults for the Society’s Annual Meeting CME Conference. Navigating the Transition Zone: From Adolescence through Young Adulthood,* will be April 17 and 18 at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, Madison, Wis.
Saturday’s keynote, Childhood Adversity and Lifelong Health: The Science Behind Trauma-informed Care, will be presented by Pamela McGranahan, DNP, RN, Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison School of Nursing, DNP Program Director.
With a focus on mental and behavioral health, sexual health, adolescent lifestyles and complex diseases within the transition zone of adolescents becoming young adults, this conference is designed for physicians and other members of the health care team to gain valuable insight on topics that are relevant across specialties.
Plan your weekend! The Wisconsin Medical Society Foundation’s Annual Fundraising Dinner and Silent Auction will be from 5 pm – 8:30 pm on Friday, April 17 and the Society House of Delegates meeting will be on Sunday, April 19.
Contact Brianna Farwell at 608.442.3791 with questions. * This conference has been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ and AAFP Credit.
Find more information here!
October 21, Wisconsin Health News
The annual economic cost of binge drinking in Wisconsin is $3.9 billion, according to a new report from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
The report called binge drinking a “critical public health concern” and said it leads to increased spending on healthcare, crime and other costs.
“Everyone who lives and works in Wisconsin is affected by the health and economic costs of excessive alcohol consumption, including binge drinking,” the report noted.
The prevalence of binge drinking in Wisconsin last year was 24 percent, compared to the median of 16 percent in the United States.
Productivity losses contributed to 66 percent of the total cost of binge drinking, with 10 percent attributed to healthcare, 15 percent to criminal justice and 9 percent to other losses like motor-vehicle crashes. The annual cost per resident, including children, is $666.
Local, state and federal governments pay for around 41.4 percent of total binge drinking costs, which is around $1.6 billion.
The state alcohol tax revenue in Wisconsin last year was $60.9 million, 1.6 percent of the total cost of binge drinking.
The report noted limitations like the numbers being “substantially underestimated” due to gaps in data and by not including intangible costs like pain and suffering.
Read more.
Correction: The initial story misstated the revenue collected through the state’s alcohol tax. The correct number is $60.9 million.
October 11, Wisconsin Health News
Hospital leaders weighed in on what health systems can do to cut costs and the role they should play in addressing the social determinants of health at a Wisconsin Health News panel this week.
Panelists included:
· Dr. Scott Rathgaber, CEO, Gundersen Health System
· Damond Boatwright, President, SSM Health Wisconsin
· Luke Beirl, CEO, Hayward Area Memorial Hospital
Charles Franklin, PhD, nationally recognized government scholar and pollster, will headline Doctor Day 2020.
Doctor Franklin has served as director of the Marquette Law School Poll since its inception in 2012. During that year’s highly scrutinized election cycle, he established Marquette as the definitive source for information concerning public opinion in Wisconsin.
Under Doctor Franklin’s direction as a visiting professor at Marquette, the poll became the largest independent polling project in state history. It accurately captured voter attitudes before every major election in 2012, including the gubernatorial recall, U.S. Senate and presidential races.
Since joining Marquette as a professor of law and public policy in August 2013, Doctor Franklin has used the poll to continue tracking political races of interest to voters and explore additional public policy issues.
At Doctor Day on January 29, 2020, Franklin will share his insight and polling data relevant healthcare policy and the 2020 election.
Click here for more information!
September 27, Wisconsin Health News
This week, the Speaker’s Task Force on Suicide Prevention unveiled its recommendations, ranging from creating a suicide prevention program at the Department of Health Services to requiring student ID cards to have the phone number of a suicide prevention hotline.
Among the measures are a series of grants targeting suicide prevention efforts, creating an interim license for psychologists to practice, and providing money for farmers to enroll in technical college courses on farm and business management as well as funding for a center that provides mental health training for schools.
Chair Rep. Joan Ballweg, R-Markesan, said that since they announced the proposals Wednesday, they’ve heard more suggestions.
“The more we talk about this, the more engagement there is,” she said in a recent interview. “Hopefully, we’ll come up with additional items that we can propose if not this session, then next session.”
Ballweg spoke to Wisconsin Health News about some of the task force’s recommendations and their next steps.
September 26, Wisconsin Health News
Substantial health disparities exist among ethnic groups and those with different healthcare payers in the state, according to a recent report from the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality.
The collaborative, with help from the University of Wisconsin Health Innovation Program, looked at disparities related to race, payer and location.
Matt Gigot, director of performance measurement and analysis at the collaborative, said they’re seeing substantial disparities among American Indians and Alaska Natives as well as the state’s black population.
They’re also seeing substantial disparities among Medicaid enrollees and the uninsured compared to the commercial population.
“For some populations, a targeted approach can be taken to mitigate one or two areas where the group is experiencing disparities,” the report’s co-author Dr. Maureen Smith, a University of Wisconsin professor of population health sciences and family medicine, said in a statement. “If we want to close the gaps in health outcomes and care for people who are experiencing multiple disparities, it will require a community-wide response.”
Wisconsin Medical Society, Medigram
On Tuesday night in Delafield, the Waukesha County Medical Society provided the opportunity for physicians to dine with their elected officials and discuss trending health care topics. Representatives Knodl, Hutton, Brandtjen, Duchow, Dittrich and Senator Kapenga attended.
Legislators responded to questions regarding vaping, direct primary care and telemedicine; however, the most discussed topic was the physician workforce in the state. While physicians were able to provide suggestions to help with the physician shortage, legislators said physician expertise is needed and legislators need to hear more from physicians.
To ensure physicians are heard, join WisMed Voice, a new advocacy tool from the Wisconsin Medical Society. Joining WisMed Voice is easy–click here and complete the sign-up process.
If you’re interested in becoming politically active, or supporting your legislators, please contact Heidi Green at heidi.green@wismed.org or 608.442.3720.
Esha Afreen, MS2; Zachary Colvin, DO; Anna Palatnik, MD; Erika Peterson, MD
One of the efforts made by the state of Wisconsin to combat opioid overprescribing is a new state law, Wisconsin Act 266, which went into effect April 1, 2017. This law was intended to discourage providers from overprescribing opioids by mandating a search of the prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) database if prescribing opioids for greater than three days duration. The objectives of our study were to examine whether opioid prescribing patterns and postpartum health care utilization were changed after this new law was enacted.
We hypothesized that Wisconsin Act 266 decreased opioid prescribing without compromising effective post-Cesarean pain control through two aims:
A total of 1,316 women met criteria for analysis. There were no statistically significant differences in characteristics between patients in two study periods. There was a significant decrease in number and total amount of opioids prescribed at discharge in the year after the provisions were enacted. A multivariate linear regression was performed controlling for race, labor, previous cesarean deliveries, prior opioid use, and body mass index. Both outcomes remained statistically significant. There was no difference in percentage of patients who had additional encounters for postpartum pain control, or additional opioid prescriptions.
The study concluded that the amount of opioids prescribed decreased in the year following enactment of Wisconsin Act 266 compared to the year prior, while postpartum encounters for pain did not increase. This demonstrates that opioids were previously being overprescribed and that the law has been effective at reducing opioid prescribing without compromising postoperative pain control after discharge. Future mandates such as this should be considered in other states to decrease opioid overprescribing on a national level.
Acknowledgments:
The student would like to thank Dr. Erika Peterson, Dr. Zachary Colvin, DO, and Dr. Anna Palatnik, MD for their continued mentorship and support for this project, as well as the Waukesha County Medical Society for their generosity in funding the fellowship that made this project possible.
References:
1. Scholl L, Seth P, Kariisa M, Wilson N, Baldwin G. Drug and Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths — United States, 2013–2017. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2018;67(5152). doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6751521e1
2. Badreldin N, Grobman WA, Chang KT, Yee LM. Opioid prescribing patterns among postpartum women. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2018;219(1):103.e1-103.e8. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2018.04.003
3. Osmundson SS, Schornack LA, Grasch JL, Zuckerwise LC, Young JL, Richardson MG. Postdischarge opioid use after cesarean delivery. Obstet Gynecol. 2017;130(1):36-41. doi:10.1097/AOG.0000000000002095
4. Bateman BT, Cole NM, Maeda A, et al. Patterns of opioid prescription and use after cesarean delivery. Obstet Gynecol. 2017;130(1):29-35. doi:10.1097/AOG.0000000000002093
The Wisconsin Medical Society continues to lead the conversation on well-being and empowerment for physicians and health care teams with this follow-up to last year’s successful event. Designed to energize collaborative efforts to advance proven solutions for increasing clinician empowerment, retention and satisfaction – come be a part of this critical conversation.
More information about this event can be found here.
You can find the direct link to register here.
WCMS563 Carter Court, Suite B, Kimberly, WI 54136Email: WaukeshaCMS@badgerbay.co
