The business of health

Southeastern Wisconsin residents benefit from a health care market that is nationally known for quality, competition, efficiency and collaboration, and a business community committed to employee wellness. State agencies, trade organizations, health care systems and purchasers work collaboratively to develop innovative solutions that deliver high quality, cost-efficient health care services.

The state is a leader in integrated health care, which brings physicians, hospitals and ancillary services together to provide more efficient care and minimize the duplication of services. It is also home to several provider-owned health plans, which offer employers an integrated solution that provides both health care delivery and health insurance.

The health care community seeks to continually improve efficiency and quality by working on several statewide projects, including the Wisconsin Health Information Organization (WHIO), which manages an all-payer claims database to help identify variations in the way health care services are delivered; and the Wisconsin Collaborative on Healthcare Quality (WCHQ), which gathers clinical data from health systems and hospitals to improve the quality of care.

As a result of these initiatives, Wisconsin consistently ranks among the top states in the nation for the quality of health care services delivered to patients.

A Leader in Research & Education

The Milwaukee Region is a leader in medical research and education, with several academic institutions providing undergraduate and graduate degrees in medical professions, public health and biomedical engineering.

The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), which has locations in the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center, Green Bay and Central Wisconsin, is a private medical school and major national research center that offers graduate degrees in medical, pharmacy and biomedical sciences. Nearly 1,800 physicians provide care in virtually every specialty of medicine for more than 5.1 million patient visits annually.

With a history dating back to 1893, MCW is the largest research institution in the Milwaukee metro area and second largest in Wisconsin. MCW faculty direct or collaborate on nearly 3,700 research studies annually, including more than 970 clinical trials. In the last 10 years, faculty received more than $1.82 billion in external support for research, teaching, training and related purposes. Its Office of Technology Development oversees patenting, marketing and licensing of new medical technologies, and its Clinical and

Translational Science Institute is a collaboration with the Milwaukee School of Engineering and other schools to solve medical engineering challenges. The Medical College also collaborates with Marquette University to provide education and research in biomedical engineering,orthopedic and stroke rehabilitation, speech pathology and exercise physiology.

Marquette also serves as the region’s dental school, offers a master’s program for physician assistant training and doctoral programs in occupational and physical therapy.

Marquette University

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) plays a crucial role in making the Milwaukee Region a leader in medical research and education. UWM’s Partners for Health is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the university’s College of Health Professions and Sciences and its Joseph J. Zilber College of Public Health. It conducts research in multiple areas, including biosciences and aging, and seeks innovative ways to improve the lives of people with physical and mental health issues. UWM has the state’s largest nursing program; graduate programs in public health, health care administration and informatics; and is the state’s only nationally accredited school of public health.

The Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin and its affiliate, the Blood Research Institute, play major roles in research regarding immunobiology, transfusion medicine and stem-cell biology. The institute’s Glycomics Center focuses on defining the structures and functions of complex carbohydrates. The Blood Research Institute also played an integral role in the creation of the National Marrow Donor Program.

Several area schools offer undergraduate and advanced degrees in nursing, including Alverno College, Columbia College of Nursing, Marquette University, Milwaukee School of Engineering and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Leaders in Wellness

Wisconsin businesses and organizations have been innovators in wellness, recognizing the link between medical costs and the health status of an employer group. Most Milwaukee-area employers with more than 20 employees have established wellness programs, which often include health-risk assessments, educational offerings and subsidies for health and fitness clubs.

This focus on wellness is due in large measure to the efforts of the Wellness Council of Wisconsin, which is dedicated to helping employers design resultsoriented wellness programs that maximize the health and productivity of their employees. Founded in 1985 by the Wisconsin business community, the association has 500 employer members representing more than 450,000 employees. Its Well Workplace University helps participants develop a practical framework for building effective worksite wellness programs by securing senior-level support and using data to drive health efforts.

As a result of the business community’s commitment to wellness, southeastern Wisconsin is the only region in the country to have two cities that have achieved Well City designation – Milwaukee, which received its designations in 2010 and 2015, and Racine, which received its designation in 2012. In order to achieve the designation, a significant number of businesses have to offer formal wellness programs that include biometric screenings, health-risk assessments and other requirements.

Competitive Health Plans

Wisconsin has one of the most competitive health insurance markets in the country, which gives employers both large and small a range of options from which to choose. UnitedHealthcare is the region’s largest provider of private-sector health insurance, followed by Anthem Network Health is a provider-owned health plan that is jointly owned by Froedtert Health and Ascension Wisconsin It provides health insurance throughout southeastern and northeastern Wisconsin.

Most health plan designs in the Milwaukee Region are preferred provider organizations (PPOs) that do not restrict patients from using providers but offer lower fees if the patient chooses providers in the PPO’s preferred network. Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) are not prevalent in eastern Wisconsin but are found in central and western parts of the state.

Integrated Health Care Delivery

Southeastern Wisconsin is served by five multi-hospital health systems that integrate physician services and outpatient clinics with inpatient services to provide coordinated medical care. Wisconsin has one of the nation’s greatest concentrations of integrated care systems, which can improve quality and efficiency through better patient engagement, electronic record sharing and the elimination of duplicate diagnostic tests.

Aurora Health Care is the largest health system in Wisconsin and the state’s largest private employer. In addition to Advocate Health Care in Illinois and Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama, Aurora Health Care is part of Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit, integrated health system in the United States.

The second-largest integrated system in the region is Ascension Wisconsin, which includes the former Columbia St. Mary’s health system and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare. Ascension Wisconsin is part of St. Louis-based Ascension Healthcare.

Ascension also includes the former Ministry health system, which provides care in northern Wisconsin, and the former Affinity Healthcare, which provides health care in northeastern Wisconsin. Ascension Wisconsin is one of the largest divisions of Ascension Health, which is the secondlargest health system in the country.

The region’s other integrated health systems are:

• Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, which combines an academic medical center with several community hospitals, a tertiary care hospital and the region’s only Level I trauma center. It is also part owner of Network Health, a health plan that provides both commercial and Medicare Advantage coverage.

• ProHealth Care, which serves the greater Waukesha area with three hospitals and more than a dozen medical clinics in Waukesha County, including a cancer center that it operates in conjunction with UW Health.

• Children’s Wisconsin, which has pediatric hospitals and clinics in southeastern and northeastern Wisconsin, as well as northern Illinois, and is ranked as one of the top pediatric health care centers in the nation for both medical and behavioral care, as well as child advocacy.

The Milwaukee Region is also home to Rogers Behavioral Health, which has three inpatient hospitals, 17 residential programs, eight outpatient centers and a supportive living center in the area, as well as facilities and programs in eight other states.

INTEGRATED HEALTH SYSTEMS

Following are descriptions of the regional health care delivery systems serving the Milwaukee Region:

AURORA HEALTH CARE

Aurora Health Care is the largest health system in Wisconsin and a national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care. The state’s largest private employer, the system serves patients across 17 hospitals, more than 70 pharmacies and more than 150 sites of care in Wisconsin. Aurora Health Care, in addition to Advocate Health Care in Illinois and Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama, is now part of Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit, integrated health system in the United States. Committed to providing equitable care for all, Advocate Health provides nearly $6 billion in annual community benefit. aurorahealthcare.org

ASCENSION WISCONSIN

In Wisconsin, Ascension operates 17 hospital campuses, more than 100 related health care facilities and employs more than 1,100 primary and specialty care clinicians from Racine to Appleton. Serving Wisconsin since 1848, Ascension is a faith-based health care organization committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons who are living in poverty and those most vulnerable. As one of the leading non-profit and Catholic health systems in the U.S., Ascension operates more than 2,600 sites of care — including 139 hospitals in 19 states. Visit ascension.org

CHILDREN’S WISCONSIN

Children's Wisconsin is the region’s only independent health care system dedicated solely to the physical, mental and social well-being of children. The hospital, which has locations in Milwaukee and Neenah, Wisconsin, is recognized as one of the leading pediatric health care centers in the United States. Children’s Wisconsin provides primary care, specialty care, urgent care, emergency care, mental and behavioral health care, community health services, foster and adoption services, child and family counseling, child advocacy services and family resource centers. Children’s is a member of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Learn more at childrenswi.org.

FROEDTERT & THE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN

The Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) health network is a partnership between Froedtert Health and the Medical College of Wisconsin supporting a shared mission of patient care, innovation, medical research and education. Our health network operates eastern Wisconsin’s only academic medical center and adult Level I Trauma Center at Froedtert Hospital, Milwaukee, an internationally recognized training and research center engaged in thousands of clinical trials and studies. The Froedtert & MCW health network, which includes 10 hospital locations, more than 2,100 physicians and more than 45 health centers and clinics, draws patients from throughout the Midwest and the nation. For more information, visit froedtert.com Workforce Health, the employer services arm of the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network, provides occupational health care services to businesses throughout southeastern Wisconsin. froedtert.com/ workforce-health

PROHEALTH CARE

ProHealth Care is an integrated health care system serving Waukesha County and surrounding communities. It includes a network of more than 800 physicians that provide cancer, heart and vascular care, orthopedics, neurosciences and other specialty services. ProHealth Care operates four hospitals, 15 clinics, several urgent care centers, surgery centers, hospice care and other services. It also offers online scheduling and virtual health services.