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June 11, 2008 – Small Medical Practice Pilot Project.
The goals of the Greater Milwaukee Business Foundation on Health (GMBFH) Small Medical Practice Pilot Project were to determine the feasibility of applying the current measurement methodology of an organization such as the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality (WCHQ) to small medical practices and identify the role of various stakeholders in obtaining the data for calculating the measures.
Please click here to download the report from the pilot in PDF format (341K).
October 31st, 2007 – Milwaukee Hospitals Becoming More Efficient Is Conclusion of Business Foundation Study
Findings of the study released by the Directors of GMBFH conclude that for the years 2003 through 2006 local hospital operating costs - the day-to-day expenses of running a business – have increased less than the national average. The study found that operating costs for area hospitals increased about 10% from 2003 through 2006 – roughly 4 to 5 percentage points below the national average.
As a follow-up to its ground breaking June 28, 2006 study that identified key factors that contribute to Milwaukee’s high inpatient payment levels, the current study examines the impact of cost shift burden and health system geographic market concentration in addition to operating costs as mentioned above.
Differences in the relative cost shift burdens among Milwaukee area health systems generally decreased from 2003 through 2006. With one exception, each hospital system’s relative cost shift burden moved closer to the market average.
In each year of the study, the average “predominant” health system’s commercial market share (52-55%) is significantly greater than the highest individual health system commercial share of the total Milwaukee market (25-28%). This indicates a significant degree of market concentration within individual zip codes and limited overlap of market areas among health systems.
Please click here to download the presentation in PDF format (293K).
Please click here to download Appendix A in PDF format (193K).
Media Information on the report:
Hospitals Running Leaner, Study Finds - January 4, 2008
October 31st, 2007 – Business Foundation Study Concludes Milwaukee’s Health Insurance Administrative Costs & Profits Are Similar to Other Midwest Cities --
The Directors of GMBFH have released findings that indicate that Milwaukee’s high health care costs are not caused by disproportionately higher insurance company administrative costs and/or profits. Although insurance costs and profits vary from year to year and were slightly higher in Milwaukee in 2005 when compared to other Midwestern cities, the major driver of the area’s high health care costs are the fees physicians and hospitals charge for their services.
Regardless of the cost of the specific components of the health care premium, the total cost of health care in Milwaukee remains markedly higher than that for other MSAs in the central US. These high health care costs will make it difficult for Milwaukee firms to attract and retain skilled employees, essential for sustainable economic growth.
Please click here to download the presentation in PDF format (76K).
Media Information on the report:
Hospitals, doctors set pace... Study attributes charges as reason for area's higher health care costs. January 20th, 2008
September 29th, 2006 - Business Foundation Confirms Milwaukee Has High Physician Fees -- The Directors of the GMBFH have released findings that Milwaukee resides at the expensive end of the health care cost spectrum relative to physician fees, when compared to other major Midwest cities. For example, fees for the physician services studied are typically 30-40% higher in Milwaukee than in Cincinnati, Kansas City and St.Louis. Please click on the link below to download, "The Physician Market Place - A Comparison of Central USA Metropolitan Areas"
Please click here to download the GMBFH press release in PDF format (28k)
Please click here to download the GMBFH Physician Fee Study in PDF Format (159K)
Please click here to download the procedure data specific to the GMBFH Physician Fee Study in PDF Format (74K)
If you are experiencing trouble downloading the study,
right click on the document link and select "Save target
as..." you can then save the file to your computer and
open the file from the location where you saved it. If you
are still having problems, please send an email to gmbfhinc@aol.com
Media Information on the study:
JSonline - Doctor Fees Higher Here - September 28th 2006.
Milwaukee Business Journal - Doc's Fees Higher Than in Other Cities - Septbember 28th 2006
June 28th 2006- Factors Contributing to Higher Hospital
Inpatient Payment Levels in Milwaukee -- The Directors
of the GMBFH have released the findings of a study designed
to compare Milwaukee inpatient rates to hospitals in eight
other Midwestern cities.
The comparison indicated that average payment rates were
higher in Milwaukee than in seven of eight of the comparison
cities. In two cases, it was approximately 40% higher. Given
Milwaukee’s high cost position, the foundation then
compared elements of the health care environment in three
cities, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Detroit, to learn more about
causes for Milwaukee’s higher payment rates.
The study identified that Milwaukee’s relative cost
position was predominantly the result of the interaction and
balance of five factors. For further information on these
factors, please see the links below.
Click
here to download the GMBFH June 28th press release - PDF format.
(87k)
Click
here to download the full report on the Factors Contributing
to Higher Hospital Inpatient Payment Levels in Milwaukee -
PDF format.(574k)
If you are experiencing trouble downloading these files,
right click on the document link and select "Save target
as..." you can then save the file to your computer and
open the file from the location where you saved it. If you
are still having problems, please send an email to gmbfhinc@aol.com
Media information on the study:
JSonline
- Hospitals Control the Market - June 29, 2006
Milwaukee
Business Journal - Report:Diverse Forces Drive Milwaukee's
health care Costs - June 27, 2006
March 17th, 2005 - Three Year Study:
The Cost Efficiency of Milwaukee's Healthcare - The
Board of Directors of GMBFH have announced findings and have
presented the latest community study regarding The Cost Efficiency
of Milwaukee’s Healthcare
The study represents an analysis of the largest geographically
specific medical claims database ever gathered in Wisconsin
on a voluntary basis. The database comprises three years of
local medical claims totaling approximately $3 billion.
The report examines the cost efficiency of our local region’s
hospitals at both the individual and hospital system level
as well as physician performance based upon an Episodes of
Care grouper that adjusts for severity of illness for specific
diagnosis and compares total medical cost across the entire
spectrum of physician, hospital, pharmacy and ancillary services.
Information from the report is available for download in
PDF format:
Executive Summary (153 KB)
March
17th Presentation on 2005 Study (912 KB)
Appendix
A - Methodology and Assumptions (353 KB)
Exhibit
1 (201 KB)
If you are experiencing trouble downloading these files,
right click on the document link and select "Save target
as..." you can then save the file to your computer and
open the file from the location where you saved it. If you
are still having problems, please send an email to gmbfhinc@aol.com
Links to Articles on the study:
Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel - March 17th, 2005
Milwaukee
Business Journal - March 17th, 2005
September 14th, 2004 - Clearer Prescription Writing
Achieved for Milwaukee -A study, sponsored by the
Medical Society of Milwaukee County and the Greater Milwaukee
Business Foundation on Health, Inc , won a national award
from the Institute of Safe Medication Practices for
helping to improve patient safety.
Click here
for full press release on the study.
This initiative of the GMBFH is designed
to assist English and Spanish speaking residents to anonymously
assess their health at www.howsyourhealth.org;
and to provide those with generally good health immediate
affirmation. It is also designed to assist those with chronic
symptoms immediate feedback on how they might relieve symptoms
as well as provide a printout to take to their health care
provider.
Another goal of the initiative is to provide residents with
information they can use to improve the interaction with their
health care provider and improve the quality and efficiency
of the care they receive.
The web site is anonymous: no personal identification
is recorded, no cookies, and no one will contact you. No advertising,
pop-ups or sales.
HOW IT WORKS: After completing the HowsYourHealth.org
survey, you will be able to print out:
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Health information designed for you;
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Helpful forms for you and your doctor;
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Other options based on your responses
You get to suggest, "What might make greater Milwaukee
a healthier place for you and others?”
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