Valued Voice

Members of the hospital post-acute care community and their partners gathered in-person for the first time in three years last week for the WHA Post-acute Care Conference: Transitions Inside and Outside the Four Walls. Dennis McIntee with the Leadership Development Group kicked off the day with an engaging presentation that gave attendees concrete strategies to help them lead through change.
 
Wisconsin Division of Quality Assurance Administrator Otis Woods provided a useful overview current acute and post-acute care issues in the state and a noteworthy preview of coming concerns. 
 
Representatives from the Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources (GWAAR) encouraged a coordinated approach to care transitions based on working with local community-based organizations to help address social determinants of health for at-risk members of the community.
 
Acute Hospital Care at Home programs offered through a Medicare waiver have become increasingly popular across the country, currently offered by 245 hospitals in 36 states. Gundersen Health System’s Mandi Pericak and Laura Kloss and Marshfield Clinic Health System’s William Melms, MD, and Ruwan Dissanayake, MD, provided informative details about the implementation of their respective programs and how those programs have become an effective option for patients, families and caregivers in their communities.


L to R: Laura Kloss, Mandi Pericak and Ruwan Dissanayak from Gundersen Health System; and William Melms, MD, Marshfield Clinic Health System

The attendees also heard from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services’ Ann Lamberg and representatives of several Family Care Managed Care Organizations (MCO) about the ongoing work with hospital representatives to identify barriers to timely placements and ways to improve care transitions. Finally, Bellin Health’s Cassie Stremer and Maggie Koch and Lakeland Care Family Care MCO’s Kelly Hermanson-Ottman described the thoughtful approach they are using to evaluate state and county systems that affect care transitions and identify ways to improve the processes. They provided tips for those interested in initiating a similar effort in their communities.