Wisconsin Health Information Organization
The Wisconsin Health Information Organization (WHIO) has named Dana Richardson its new CEO. Richardson succeeds Josephine Musser who is retiring.

Richardson has been serving since April as Acting Executive Director of the non-profit PCPI® Foundation in Chicago. Previously, she served six years at the American Medical Association (AMA) as Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives for the PCPI, which was originally convened by the AMA. From 2002-2010, Richardson was Vice President for Quality Initiatives at the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA).

With a BS in Nursing and an MA Business, Health Service Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and prior experience at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison and the Dean Health System, Richardson has deep ties to Wisconsin’s health care system, as both a provider and administrator, beginning in 1983.

“Dana Richardson is a proven leader who thinks strategically and acts decisively, setting goals, solving problems and seeing tangible results,” said WHIO Board Chair Linda Syth. “Her background in quality and efficiency at the local and state level in Wisconsin, along with her work at the national level with physician societies and performance measurement, make her uniquely qualified to engage caregivers where their heart is – great patient care. We’re delighted to welcome Dana to WHIO,” Syth said.

WHIO provides health care information to consumers, clinicians, providers, employers and payers to support decision-making. “I am excited to be joining an organization focused on the quality, safety and affordability of health care. Knowing that Wisconsin is a high value state for health care services, my goal is to further leverage the WHIO information to set a higher bar,” said Richardson.

Richardson will assume her new post on August 30th and collaborate with outgoing CEO Jo Musser until the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition.

The Wisconsin Health Information Organization (WHIO) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to improving the quality, affordability, safety and efficiency of health care in Wisconsin.

Eighty years ago, Milwaukee was the healthiest city in the country. Now, it’s among the unhealthiest in the state. What happened?

Join Mayor Tom Barrett and Commissioner of Health Bevan Baker on Sept. 6 for a wide-ranging discussion on the state of health of Wisconsin’s largest city, and how it impacts the rest of the state. They’ll outline what city officials and other leaders are doing to decrease disparities and reduce infant mortality rates, and examine why these rates, and others, including obesity, are higher in Milwaukee.

Wisconsin Health News Editor Tim Stumm will moderate this Newsmaker Event on Sept. 6 in Milwaukee at the Milwaukee Athletic Club.

Register now.

July 6, Wisconsin Health News

Declining Medicaid enrollment has led the Department of Health Services to predict the state will end the 2015-’17 biennium below budget for the program, according to a report released last week.
The projection suggests that general purpose revenue expenditures will be 3 percent below budgeted levels for the biennium. That’s in part due to a decline in Medicaid enrollment, which dropped by more than 6,000 between March and May.

Other factors playing a role in the projection include slower growth in prescription drug expenditures, higher drug rebate revenues and less growth in personal care and home health services.

“These positive trends in enrollment and service utilization indicate good things about ongoing improvements in the state’s economy and the department’s efforts to control Medicaid costs through better coordination, improved managed care rate setting methodologies, and fraud and abuse prevention efforts,” Tom Engels, interim DHS secretary, wrote in a letter to lawmakers on the Joint Finance Committee.

Engels stressed that the margin could be “easily reversed” if enrollment, provider claims or other factors turn out “slightly less favorable than assumed.”

Read more.

Wisconsin Health News is hosting a daylong conference on July 28th focusing on the future of healthcare.

National and state health leaders will analyze the trends, policies and innovations shaping the state’s changing healthcare landscape. Panelists will discuss the growing prevalence of partnerships, the intersection of healthcare and community population health, the impact of data and more.
For additional conference information, click here.