Wisconsin still working on health care reform

Health care reform has been the hot topic at the federal level over the past couple of months. We are also still working on health care reform here in Wisconsin.

Honoring End-of-Life Decisions

End-of-life care decisions are very personal and often very difficult. In the absence of any expressed preference from the patient, family members are left to anguish over what sort of care should or should not be administered. I have convened a diverse working group to explore implementation of Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) protocols in our hospitals and clinics. A POLST form is used in addition to advanced directives and durable power of attorney for health care to ensure that a patient’s wishes are followed as they relate to end-of-life care.

Electronic Medical Records

For years health care organizations have invested substantial resources to implement electronic medical records (EMR) systems, which theoretically improve access to accurate and up-to-date medical records. Currently, EMR stay within a particular clinical setting or health network. To maximize the usefulness of EMR, providers need to have the ability to share information between hospitals, emergency rooms, and clinical settings outside of a defined network.

To speed this process along, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services is working on a plan to create a centralized database that can be used by health care organizations from around the state to access certain information from a patient’s medical record. Their plan, which is expected to come before my Health and Health Care Reform Committee, will achieve this goal by creating a database called the Wisconsin Health Information Exchange. The exchange will both protect patient privacy and help translate information between different EMR systems.

Transparency

With the growing switch to “consumer driven” health plans, like Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), it is important to get health care providers to post prices on specific procedures and office visits. I am currently working with Democrats and Republicans on legislation to require health providers to post cost information. There are many ideas on the table, and it is my hope that a plan will be referred to my committee for action this fall.

Jon Richards is the state representative for Wisconsin’s 19th state Assembly District, which includes Bay View, the Third Ward, eastern downtown, and the East Side. His website is jonrichards.org. He can be reached at (888) 534-0019 or rep.richards@legis.wi.gov.