The day after the election saw the highest number of people signing up for health insurance through Healthcare.gov since the beginning of the month, as consumers show an intense interest in buying plans on the individual market both nationwide and in Wisconsin.

More than 100,000 people signed up for coverage last Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters last week. He called the sign-ups an “indication of the intense demand” for the coverage offered under the law.

Caroline Gomez-Tom, program manager for the Milwaukee Enrollment Network and navigator program manager at Covering Wisconsin, saw a similar spike in interest and enrollment last Wednesday.

Gomez-Tom said they’ve noticed that those calling and booking appointments have raised questions about the future of the Affordable Care Act, given the calls for repealing and replacing the law from President-elect Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.

Gomez-Tom said naviagators have assured consumers they’ll still be able to enroll in 2017 plans.

She added there’s strong interest in renewing policies. In previous years, they’ve “kind of had to shake the trees” to make sure people who need to renew coverage come back for help, Gomez-Tom said.

“People want to get in, and they want to get in early enough before Dec. 15, so they’re not dealing with a rush,” she said. “Because of that, we’re dealing with a rush, which is good.”

Consumers during the last few weeks have sometimes had to spend up to 30 minutes at wait pages, which pop up when a high number of users are on the website. Gomez-Tom said they didn’t see those wait pages last year until the final day people could buy or renew insurance for a policy that began at the start of the year.

She attributes the interest to “consumer savviness” as enrollees and others are beginning to understand how the market works.

“People are coming to us rather than us having to do that significant amount of outreach to get them into our offices,” Gomez-Tom said.

Joy Tapper, executive director of the Milwaukee Health Care Partnership, said despite questions about the future of the law, there are affordable plans that will remain in place in 2017.

She added that people with pre-existing conditions can still get insurance, that subsidies are available for consumers and that tax penalties will likely remain in effect for next year.

“Any change will be complex and take time,” she said.

Donna Friedsam, health policy programs director at the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute as well as principal investigator and director of Covering Wisconsin, said there’ll likely be a transition period no matter what type of policy is purused.

She added that the election hasn’t had any impact on what’s currently in the marketplace, regardless of future changes.

“Whether it’s Obamacare or Trumpcare, the navigators and the assistors are there to make sure consumers understand what’s available to them and can use it effectively,” she said. “I don’t see that mission going away.”

 

Doctors who prescribe controlled substances will have to complete training relating to the Medical Examining Board’s opioid guidelines under a rule that went into effect Thursday.

The Department of Safety and Professional Services signed off on the emergency rule last week. It requires doctors renewing their licenses to complete two hours of training on the guidelines out of their 30 hours of binniel mandatory continuing medical education.

 

Read the rule.

Wisconsin Health News

The percentage of Wisconsin physicians receiving information electronically from other providers was the highest in the nation in 2015, according to a recently released survey.

 

About 65.5 percent of Wisconsin physicians received information electronically from other providers, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report from October. The percentage was statistically significantly greater than the national average of 38.3 percent.

 

About 54.1 percent of Wisconsin physicians searched electronically for information from other providers, again significantly greater than the national average of 34 percent. It was the third highest in the nation, behind Oregon and Washington.

 

Wisconsin was also higher than the national average when it came to electronically integrating patient health information with outside providers as well as sending patient health information electronically. But those percentages were not statistically significantly different from the national average, according to the report.

 

“I don’t think Wisconsin’s success is surprising,” said Dr. Seth Foldy, a Medical College of Wisconsin professor of family and community medicine. “Wisconsin has led the nation for some years in the installation of electronic health records in doctor practices and hospitals.”

 

Foldy, who also serves as medical director of My Choice Family Care and was co-founder of Wisconsin Health Information Exchange, attributed Wisconsin’s lead to the large number of group practices and hospital networks in the state, as well as electronic health record vendors like GE, Epic and Marshfield Clinic. There’s also other businesses that are collecting, storing and exchanging electronic information, he said.

 

The large group practices have led to a large base of installed electronic health records, which means that in general the state has some of the highest number of doctors using EHR in the nation, he said.

 

Another factor explaining Wisconsin’s high numbers could be public health registries like the Wisconsin Immunization Registry, which doctors frequently use to check records. And a final factor could be the state’s prevalence of health information exchanges, which help exchange electronic health information, Foldy said.

 

Joe Kachelski, CEO of the Wisconsin Statewide Health Information Network, said Wisconsin’s always been a leader in EHR implementation and use.

 

“There’s a lot of data that we are moving,” he said of WISHIN. “I would think we’re part of what’s being measured in this study.”

 

Rick Abrams, Wisconsin Medical Society CEO, said the high percentages show the state’s healthcare system is highly integrated.

 

“The upper Midwest is really unique, but unique in a very good way,” he said. “Our physicians absolutely recognize the upside of the use of electronic health records, especially interoperable health records.”

 

While EHRs can enhance quality, healthcare technology is still in its infancy, Abrams said. Doctors say the systems cut into their time with patients, and Abrams called for more collaboration between stakeholders to “flatten out the bumps in the road that we see in the use of technology and the negative impact” it has on care delivery.

 

Read the report.

With more changes likely in store for healthcare, what will be done to address the state and nation’s growing physician and provider shortage?

How will primary care be delivered in the future? 

In what areas does it make sense to expand the scope of practice? Where does it not?

 

A panel of experts will tackle these questions and more during a Wisconsin Health News Panel Dec. 6 in Madison at the Madison Club.

 

 Register now.

Panelists:

• Dr. Dave Clemens, President-Elect, Wisconsin Dental Association
• Gina Dennik-Champion, Executive Director, Wisconsin Nurses Association
• Eric Elliot, President-Elect, Wisconsin Academy of Physician Assistants
• Linda Jorgenson, Former President, Wisconsin Dental Hygienists Association
• George Quinn, Executive Director, Wisconsin Council on Medical Education and Workforce
• Steve Rush, Vice President, Workforce and Clinical Practice, Wisconsin Hospital Association
• Dr. Ken Schellhase, President-Elect, Wisconsin Academy of Family Physicians

Wisconsin Health News Editor Tim Stumm will moderate.

When: Tuesday, Dec. 6, noon to 1 p.m. (registration and networking starts at 11:30 a.m.).

Where: Madison Club, 5 E Wilson St, Madison, WI 53703

 

The federal health reform law faces an uncertain future after Republican Donald Trump’s stunning upset to become the next president of the United States, and Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson’s victory, helping Republicans maintain control of the U.S. Senate. Trump, who carried Wisconsin, has called for repealing and replacing the law, allowing for the sale of health insurance across state borders and allowing families to deduct their health insurance premium payments from their taxes. He’s also called for more price transparency from healthcare providers, block granting Medicaid to states and removing barriers for drug manufacturers. Johnson, who defeated former Sen. Russ Feingold, called the law “a disaster,” at a debate in October. “The fact of the matter is thousands of Wisconsinites lost the health plans they could afford,” Johnson said.

Wisconsin Health News

Larry Schroeder will retire as CEO of Sauk Prairie Healthcare in January, according to a Monday statement.

Schroeder joined Sauk Prairie Healthcare in 1998 as chief operations officer and became CEO in April 2008. During his tenure, the health system built two new clinics, developed a new hospital and expanded surgeon and physician practices.

Sauk Prairie Healthcare will partner with an executive recruitment firm to conduct a nationwide search to replace Schroeder. Carol May, former chief financial officer, will serve as CEO in the interim.

 

Wisconsin Health News
Aurora Health Care has ended its partnership with the UW Cancer Center at ProHealth Care, representatives of the organizations confirmed Tuesday.

The three health systems, part of the statewide health network AboutHealth, were all collaborators on the cancer center in Pewaukee.

But Aurora spokeswoman Tami Kou said, “We discovered limitations and determined that our patients would be best served at their current locations.”

The split was first reported by the Milwaukee Business Journal late Monday.

Kou pointed toward other collaborations between ProHealth Care, including Aurora providing remote intensive care unit monitoring services for ProHealth Care’s Waukesha Memorial Hospital and Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital, which it started doing in June.

“While ProHealth Care and Aurora Health Care are working together in a number of ways, the two organizations mutually decided last year to maintain separate cancer programs in Waukesha County,” said Jeff Squire, chief corporate affairs officer at ProHealth Care.

UW Heath didn’t play a role in the decision, according to spokeswoman Lisa Brunette. She said Aurora’s decision to leave the cancer center wouldn’t have an impact on UW Health working with Aurora on pediatric cancer services in northeast Wisconsin.

 

 

Wisconsin hospitals provided $918 million in uncompensated healthcare services to their patients in fiscal year 2015, a decrease of 29.8 percent from FY 2014, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Hospital Association.

 

The 149 hospitals included in the report provided $434.7 million in charity care and incurred $483.3 million in bad debt in FY 2015.

 

General medical surgical hospitals reported a 31.1 percent decrease in uncompensated care, while specialty facilities reported an increase of 19.1 percent.

 

Total uncompensated care declined to 1.9 percent of total gross patient revenue in FY 2015 from 3 percent the previous year.

 

The Wisconsin Hospital Association attributed the decline to the expansion of health insurance coverage under the federal health reform law. They also noted they’ve seen an increase in losses from Medicaid.

 

Wisconsin hospitals receive 65 percent of what it costs to provide care for patients enrolled through Medicaid, according to Brian Potter, WHA senior vice president. Losses increased to more than $1 billion in fiscal year 2015, up from $899 million the previous year.

 

Medicare losses also increased to more than $1.64 billion, an increase of $160 million from the previous year, according to Potter.

 

“As the population continues to age and new enrollees are added to the Medicare program, the impact of the underpayments will become more pronounced,” he said.

 

Potter also noted that hospitals reinvest in communities by working with community partners to address unmet health needs.

 

“Hospitals help create healthier communities, and ensure that people are able to participate fully in employment opportunities and care for their families,” he said in a statement. “Without the assistance of hospitals and health systems, services for this segment of our society would remain scarce and in many instances, local government entities would be responsible for meeting this need.”

 

Milwaukee hospitals accounted for about 26.2 percent, roughly $240.1 million, of overall uncompensated care in the state. Of the 149 hospitals in the report, 52 delivered more than $5 million in uncompensated care during FY 2015.

 

Hospitals provided uncompensated care to 1.6 million patients in FY 2015.

 

Read more.

Wisconsin Health News

The chair of the state’s Medical Examining Board said last week that he expects doctors should be able to obtain a license under the interstate licensure compact in January.

“We want to be issuing the first licenses by Jan. 1,” said Dr. Kenneth Simons, who called it a conservative timeline. Simons serves as one of the state’s commissioners for the group developing the compact.