State News
Physician Informed Consent Bill Scheduled For Full Assembly Vote
WI Medical Society Medigram: The Assembly Rules Committee voted to place Assembly Bill 139 on the Assembly calendar for debate and vote Wednesday, May 8. That means now is the time for physicians to ask their State Assembly Representative to support the bill, which provides vital clarification of the state’s physician informed consent law following last year’s Wisconsin Supreme Court decision in Jandre v. Wisconsin Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund. (Source: WI Medical Society) [Read article]
Green Bay Hospital Enlists Fire Department To Visit Patients At Home
Bellin Health, a major healthcare provider in northeastern Wisconsin, is teaming up with the Green Bay fire department to check up on patients. “Hook and Ladder” is a first-of-its-kind program in Wisconsin that targets certain people that are being discharged from the hospital. It asks them if they would like a follow-up visit from the fire department. (Source: WI Public Radio) [Read article]
Junk Food Limit For Food Stamp Users Gets Early Nod From Legislature
Legislators have given initial approval to limit junk food purchased by those in the food stamps program. Three weeks after a lengthy public hearing on a bill limiting junk food, changes have been made to address the concerns among those in snack food industry. Now the bill says one-third of food stamp purchases can be so-called unhealthy items. Two-thirds must be from an approved government list. (Source: WI Public Radio) [Read article]
Evidence-Based Health Policy Project Briefing: School-Based Mental Health Care
An Evidence-Based Health Policy Project Briefing on school-based mental health care was held at the state Capitol. (Source: Wisconsin EYE) [Watch/Listen]
Luring Doctors And Lawyers To Rural America
Rural brain drain is not a new phenomenon, but some rural communities are trying to attract doctors and lawyers in new ways. Dr. Byron Crouse, director of the Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine, was a featured guest on National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation," where he discussed how to attract physicians to rural communities. (Source: NPR) [Read article]
Ian Stormont Receives the NRHA Student Achievement Award
Ian Stormont is a fourth-year medical student in the Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. He worked with Scenic Rivers Area Health Education Council and the Gundersen Hospital in La Crosse, Wis., to create, fund and implement a week-long health careers camp for Native American high school students. The first camp was so successful it is now an annual event. Ian will be honored May 9 during NRHA’s 36th Annual Rural Health Conference, which will attract more than 900 rural health professionals and students to Louisville, KY. Related: Scenic Rivers AHAEC press release. (Source: NRHA) [Read article]
Looking For Love In Dwindling Farm Country
This article says that in recent years, dating services for people of different ages, interests and religious backgrounds have proliferated thanks to the internet. But one of the most resilient groups of all goes back to the 1980s and focuses on an increasingly challenging niche: farmers in rural areas, whose numbers are shrinking with the farm population and who don't tend to live very close to others. (Source: Associated Press) [Read article]
Private Practices and Hospitals—the Shifting Powers of Healthcare
A guest blogger says that there’s an interesting trend occurring each year as new waves of physicians exit medical school and make their way into the working world. Since the early 2000s, the amount of physicians who have reported the willingness to work in a private practice setting appears to be on the decline. In 2000, almost 60% of all graduates stated that that a private sector of healthcare was ideal for their needs. Since then, this percentage has shrunk to about 39% (Source: WEGO Health) [Read article]
