For further information please contact:
Katie Ostrander, (414) 270-3000, ext. 231
Green Bay Competitors Working Cooperatively
MILWAUKEE (August 18, 2004)-Prevea Health Services of Green Bay and its
partners St. Vincent Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center, today
became the newest member of the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare
Quality and committed to publicly report quality and cost data for the group’s
2005 Performance & Progress Report.
“Prevea joined the Collaborative because of our strong commitment to
quality,” said Robert Kaftan, MD, CEO, Prevea Health Services. “We
understand the value of working with other providers who all have one
common goal.”
“It’s encouraging to watch the Collaborative grow,” said George Kerwin, CEO
of Green Bay-based Bellin Health. “Although we are competitors in the field,
we all have the best interest of our patients in mind. They are the driving
force behind the work the Collaborative is doing.”
“Over the past year the Collaborative has gained momentum as more
providers, purchasers and consumers of healthcare understand the
importance of the work we are doing,” said John Toussaint, MD, chairman of
the Collaborative and president/CEO of Appleton-based ThedaCare. “The
Collaborative’s goals are to improve the quality of care in Wisconsin and to
provide purchasers with the information that is standardized and comparable
across multiple provider systems.”
New Collaborative members are in the process of submitting their data for
validation by MetaStar, the Collaborative’s independent auditor. Data from
the new Collaborative members will be available when the next full
Performance & Progress Report is published in early 2005. The current
Performance & Progress Report is available online at http://www.wchq.org.
Prevea Health Services is a locally owned, patient-focused health care
organization headquartered in Green Bay, Wis. Prevea was founded in 1996
and now employs more than 160 primary care and specialty physicians, and
manages Prevea Health Plan and Prevea Health Network, covering more than
120,000 lives in northeast Wisconsin. Prevea is a partner with St. Vincent
Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center.
The Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality is a group of multi-
specialty physician groups, hospitals, health plans, employers and labor
organizations from geographically diverse areas of the state that have come
together to develop and share best practices and quality outcomes. The
Collaborative was founded in 2003 on the principle that by focusing on
improving quality, better care for patients and more rational costs will result.
Collaborative participants are: Advanced Healthcare, Milwaukee; Affinity
Medical Group, Oshkosh; Aspirus Wausau Hospital, Wausau; Bellin Health,
Green Bay; Columbia St. Mary’s, Milwaukee; Dean Health System, Madison;
Franciscan Skemp Healthcare-Mayo Health System, La Crosse; Froedtert &
Community Health, Milwaukee; Gundersen Lutheran, La Crosse; Luther
Midelfort-Mayo Health System, Eau Claire; Marshfield Clinic, Marshfield;
Medical Associates Health Centers, Menomonee Falls; Medical College of
Wisconsin, Milwaukee; Meriter Hospital and Physicians Plus Insurance
Corporation, Madison; Prevea Health Services, Green Bay; Sacred Heart
Hospital; Eau Claire; Saint Joseph’s Hospital, Marshfield; St. Marys Hospital
Medical Center, Madison; ThedaCare, Appleton; University of Wisconsin
Hospitals and Clinics, Madison; and University of Wisconsin Medical
Foundation, Madison;.
Business partners include The Alliance, Appleton Ideas, Badger Meter,
DaimlerChrysler Corp., Schneider National, Sentry Insurance, Serigraph, Inc.,
The Trane Company, United Auto Workers and Wisconsin Manufacturers and
Commerce.
