October 2022
President’s Column
Earlier this month, WCHQ had its annual Board of Directors retreat in beautiful Green Lake, Wisconsin. We chose to bring our Board members to a central location away from all their home offices, because we recognized that in-person networking and communication are the fastest ways to increase trust and build new relationships.
We chose Green Lake as our inspirational locale because it represented the perfect mix of tradition mixed with evolution. The Heidel House, an historic retreat that has recently been updated with beautiful and modern renovations, sits on the iconic shore of Big Green Lake. The recent renovations updated the amenities within the resort while maintaining its signature aura driven by the unsurpassed view of Wisconsin’s deepest lake. We left the meeting with a bevy of new strategic ideas and innovations that will drive improvement over our next 20 years.
During the retreat, we spent some time talking about our organizational name including whether the “W” was too limiting for an organization that now includes members and data collected in four states (and our more ambitious Board members cheekily again offered that we could be worldwide). WCHQ has certainly undergone significant “renovations” since our formation – we are collecting data in four states, we added dental practices and we are publicly reporting more than 40 measures of improvement, and we are leading the statewide work to reduce health care disparities. WCHQ is certainly larger, more complex and more sophisticated than we were at our inception, now nearly 20 years ago.
In my closing comments, I suggested that the “W” could be more aptly representative of “We.” We are the collaborative for health care quality- we are not a service nor a vendor, we are an entity formed by and with our member health systems. As we look forward to our own “renovations” over the next two decades it will be even more critical that participants engage in the strategy for improvement as we are collectively responsible for our success.
SPOTLIGHT: Breast Cancer and Depression Screenings
October is Breast Cancer Awareness and Depression and Mental Health Awareness month. Health screenings are a high priority for patients because they save lives. This month we are featuring WCHQ member measure results related to breast cancer and depression screening.
Depression Screening
In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, depression screenings dropped as clinics closed and patients were hesitant to schedule in-person visits. As clinics reopened, WCHQ members not only rebounded, but exceeded their previous levels of pre-pandemic screenings. Clinics in some areas of the state are still experiencing challenges with scheduling patients in for care, but they remain committed to screening patients for depression.
Breast Cancer Screening
Breast cancer screening rates have experienced a sustained decline since the beginning of the pandemic, likely attributable to clinic closures and slow downs that created a backlog of patients who are overdue for screening.
Breast cancer and depression screening are two important WCHQ measures for preventive care that impact overall patient wellness. For more information on WCHQ’s metrics, contact Abbey Harburn.
WCHQ Board Retreat Reinforces Importance of Member Engagement
The WCHQ Board Retreat September 13 at the Heidel House in Green Lake was successful on many levels. Board members networked with colleagues after having not been together in person for nearly two years. Board members contributed to a lively and productive dialogue with a goal of generating and operationalizing ideas that align with WCHQ’s mission. The general sessions centered on the current state of the health care environment. The breakout sessions focused on two areas: defining the role of employers in WCHQ’s work and determining the critical use cases for WCHQ data now and in the future.
WCHQ President and CEO Gabrielle Rude, PhD, started the day by recognizing the important role the WCHQ Board plays in shaping the future direction of the organization.
“My priority over the past year has been to meet members and learn firsthand how WCHQ can be a valuable partner in their improvement work,” Dr. Rude explained. “Another important aspect of my role with WCHQ is to build strong relationships with other organizations that represent health care. As ‘W’ organizations, we share a passion to do the best we can for our members. One way to do that is to be collaborative and look for opportunities to create greater value for our collective members.”
One organization that WCHQ shares a majority of its members with is the Wisconsin Hospital Association. Speaking at the Retreat, WHA President and CEO Eric Borgerding noted that Wisconsin is unique; it’s a highly integrated health care environment with many insurers and health plans, many of them provider owned.
Borgerding highlighted a new law that WHA helped pass that makes it a felony to threaten or attack health care workers. Wisconsin now has some of the strongest laws in the country protecting health care workers. He enumerated the challenges that the pandemic has had and will continue to have on health system finances over the coming year as patient volumes have not picked up yet.
Why Is WCHQ Important to Your Organization?
Several Board members were asked to share why they value WCHQ. Marilu Bintz, MD, Gundersen Health, said WCHQ data is used in their strategic planning process.
“We annually use not just WCHQ data, but we also integrate our community health needs assessment information into our strategic plan,’ according to Dr. Bintz. “WCHQ metrics are an integral part of our community health, and we use the WCHQ Disparities Report extensively in our efforts to reduce health care disparities because it is very actionable.”
Dr. Melms, Marshfield Clinic Health System, said quality programs are embedded into MCHS’s Institute for Patient Safety and Innovation. As a founding member of WCHQ, Dr. Melms said WCHQ has been a key promoter in the state of high-quality, safe care.
Julie Schuller, MD, is CEO of Sixteenth Street Community Heath Centers. Her interest in WCHQ is to ensure that the Medicaid and uninsured population “are not left out” of the WCHQ data.
Imran Andrabi, MD, ThedaCare, said they strive to be a population health organization, and without data, that will not be possible. They utilize WCHQ metrics and analytics to better understand where there are opportunities to improve.
People from within the Ascension system look to Wisconsin to learn about quality, according to Dirk Steinert, MD. With a mission to “care for the vulnerable, it is important that we take care of everyone in our community.” He said it is “incredible” how many people from the Ascension system come to Wisconsin to learn more about quality, and I credit WCHQ for that.”
Kori Krueger, MD, WCHQ Board Chair, explained how Marshfield Clinic Health System has quality conversations with residents, starting early to help them understand that quality is a shared responsibility.
“The Board retreat was an opportunity to engage deeper conversations on topics that are critical to our members,” Dr. Rude said. “Our Board is engaged, committed and forward-thinking. To remain a valuable partner with our members requires WCHQ staff to have a deeper understanding of the health care environment and to understand and anticipate our members’ needs. It is incumbent upon us to routinely ask our Board and our membership what we can do for them.”
