MILWAUKEE, Wis. (WSAU) — A Milwaukee-based health program utilized the resources of several partners to increase health coverage, cut down on emergency room visits and even won recognition from President Obama.
It’s the Milwaukee Health Care Partnership, which is a 10-year-old public-private consortium including four federally qualified health centers, five southeast Wisconsin health systems, the Medical College of Wisconsin, and representatives from city, county, state government health agencies.
Executive Director Joy Tapper is a Wausau native who oversees the six-county southeastern Wisconsin program. She says the partners were always interested in improving health care for under-served low-income families and they came up with the concept. Tapper helped them form the infrastructure to make it work.
Tapper says they’ve had a couple of key accomplishments, including a nationally-recognized Emergency to Home Initiative. People that use Emergency Room services because they generally don’t go to the doctor until they absolutely have to are now getting more continuous health management. “Individuals who use the emergency department and may not be connected to primary care to address their chronic conditions, we connect them, so right in the emergency departments in Milwaukee, we have a scheduling tool that helps them schedule a primary care appointment for their discharge, and then these primary care providers reach out and work to engage these individuals.”
Tapper says this program alone makes about 6,000 referrals a year and gets ongoing chronic conditions monitored by continuing primary care providers instead of the ER. She says many people learn both how to better manage their health and how to avoid an emergency room trip. “It’s a one-stop shop, but particularly for folks who have ongoing conditions like diabetes, asthma, congestive heart failure. An ongoing relationship with a primary care provider is the best way to manage their health and manage medications, and improve outcomes, so part of our whole ED-to-Home medical initiative is also about coaching and enhancing patient’s health literacy.”
The program’s enrollment task force helped identify people that can benefit from their efforts. This effort expanded after Obamacare began. Their success in signing up more people for the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was recognized by the President in March.
Tapper says their organization doesn’t focus on the politics of the Affordable Care Act, but instead, focuses on getting the people who need health coverage enrolled. She says one of the positives of the ACA is the ability to cover a broader range of medical conditions, like mental health treatment and help for people with pre-existing conditions.
The Milwaukee Health Care Partnership serves an area where about 30% of the population is under the poverty level and on Medicaid. Another 10% of the population is uninsured. Their working to improve the overall health of their community, which includes better screening and care for kids and an improvement in infant mortality.
Tapper says they’re working with other groups in the Fox Valley, Dane County, and central Wisconsin to replicate that success by sharing their information and experiences.
