MMC OFFICIAL IMPRESSED AFTER MEETING WITH MEDICARE HEAD
Monday, August 22nd, 2011 -- 12:24 PM
The CEO of Memorial Medical Center in Neillsville was extremely impressed after meeting with the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last week.Scott Polenz was among a group of around 30 representatives from rural hospitals and clinics from western Wisconsin that met with Dr. Don Berwick in Black River Falls.
"He talks to so many different people, but when someone would give their specific situation...he would actually write that down and want more specifics," Polenz recalls, "which I thought was fascinating."
A number of factors have led rural, primary care facilities to a crossroads, says Polenz: Populations continue to shift away from rural areas, forcing smaller providers to try to increase their market-share. It?s also made it more difficult to recruit doctors away from urban centers.
And then there?s the increasing cost of health care.
"We're kind of moving toward a perfect storm someday down the road," he predicts. "More people are not going to have insurance, or can't afford to have insurance, or be on Medicaid, which is our poorest payer."
"And we're not having enough physicians and nurse practicioners and physicians assistants that are available in the rural areas. We spent quite a bit of time talking about that."
Polenz says Wisconsin has always provided excellent care for much cheaper than other states, like Florida, which gets a much higher rate of reimbursement through Medicare.
Berwick and other officials are looking into how Wisconsin does it in the hopes it can be replicated elsewhere.
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