Kaiser Media Fellowships 2015 Wisconsin Site Visits

In October 2015, the Foundation invited a group of journalists with a strong focus on health policy and state health reform to participate in a week-long fellowship program focused on health care in Wisconsin. The site visits in Milwaukee and Madison gave the journalists the opportunity to hear from a variety of experts and stakeholders on access to health care and insurance, quality of care and cost containment, managing pediatric population health, redesigning care delivery, and collaborative partnerships in health care. The program included a full-day briefing — led by Epic Systems Corp. founder and CEO Judy Faulkner at the company’s headquarters — on the role of electronic health record systems and their implications for health policy. Wisconsin’s health secretary and Medicaid director gave an update on the state’s approach to providing coverage to low-income residents while not implementing the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act.

2015 Wisconsin Site Visit Agenda

The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured published a fact sheet that summarizes Wisconsin’s Health Care Landscape. The Foundation also has a State Health Insurance Marketplace Profile on Wisconsin, which is continually updated to reflect the latest information on the state’s health insurance marketplace implementation.

Participants

Guy Boulton, health/business reporter, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

 -“Epic Systems soars with transition to electronic health records,” The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 24, 2016

 -“Epic Systems founder Judy Faulkner plans to give billions to charity,” The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 26, 2016

Jonathan Cohn, senior health correspondent, The Huffington Post

Gisele Grayson, senior producer science desk, NPR, Washington, D.C.

Bob Herman, reporter, Modern Healthcare

 -“Why hospital-owned health plans are big like cheese in Wisconsin,” Modern Healthcare, Dec. 9, 2015

Anna Maria Barry-Jester, public health reporter, FiveThirtyEight

 -“It’s 2015 — Why Haven’t Our Medical Records Entered The Digital Age?,” FiveThirtyEight, Nov. 6, 2015

Sean Kirkby, reporter, Wisconsin Health News

 -“DHS: Independent assessment proposal caused personal care costs to flatline,” Wisconsin Health News, Oct. 29, 2015

 -“Epic, Cerner: EHR vendors have come far in interoperability, but still more to dos,” Wisconsin Health News, Nov. 12, 2015

 -“EHR vendors, providers differ on value, future of state and regional health information exchanges,” Wisconsin Health News, Nov. 24, 2015

 -“Children’s Hospital eyes 2017 exchange,” Wisconsin Health News, Nov. 30, 2015

Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak, health policy correspondent, NPR, Washington, D.C.

 -“A Hospital Reduces Repeat ER Visits By Providing Social Workers,” NPR, Oct. 23, 2015

Noam Levey, national healthcare reporter, Washington bureau, The Los Angeles Times

Shefali Luthra, web reporter, KFF Health News, Washington, D.C.

Jayne O’Donnell, healthcare policy reporter, USA Today

Rachana Pradhan, health care reporter, Politico Pro, Washington, D.C.

 -“Vaccination Fight Brewing in Wisconsin?,” POLITICO Pulse, Oct. 21, 2015

 -“Dispatches from Wisconsin,” POLITICO Pulse, Oct. 22, 2015

 -“Wisconsin and the Case of 36,000 Missing Medicaid Enrollees,” POLITICO Pro, Oct. 23, 2015

Julie Rovner, senior correspondent, KFF Health News, Washington, D.C.

Tim Stumm, editor, Wisconsin Health News

 -“About Health signs first contract,” Wisconsin Health News, Oct. 21, 2015

David Wahlberg, health reporter, The Wisconsin State Journal

 -“After Meriter clinic closes, special needs patients lack dental care,” The Wisconsin State Journal, Nov. 1, 2015

 -“Epic Systems forum addresses hot topic in medical records: interoperability,” The Wisconsin State Journal, Nov. 11, 2015

 -“State aims to cut personal care fraud; providers say move could harm patients,” The Wisconsin State Journal, Dec. 21, 2015