IMPACT: Wisconsin's drunk status is no joke

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CHANGING LIVES. FOR GOOD.

Many of us are familiar with the local slogan,

"Drink Wisconsibly"

but there's no pride in the distinction of Nation's Drunkest State.

Alcohol is the 4th leading cause of preventable death in the United States and takes a $249 billion toll on the economy.

The collateral damage and financial burden

is shared.

Small changes

can make a big difference in reducing your risk of having alcohol-related problems.

If one approach doesn't work, try something else.

And remember,

IMPACT provides free consultation and guidance.

Simply dial 2-1-1.

Ten TipsTo Reduce Your Risk

IMPACT 2-1-1 is available 24/7 and has multiple access points to get connected to family health and social services throughout Southeastern Wisconsin.

Simply dial 2-1-1

or toll-free

1-866-211-3380

Text your ZIP code

to 898-211 available 9am to 9pm

Click to chat or search the online resource directory at impactinc.org

IMPACT has been involved with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Area Heat Task Force for many years.

Our role is to serve as a central access point for resources when a heat advisory or emergency is declared. For example, IMPACT 2-1-1 relays
information to concerned residents regarding how the heat can affect their health conditions or medications; assesses callers for safety; and directs people to local cooling sites and splash pads.

June 30, 2016

Wisconsin is the Drunkest

State in America

Twelve Wisconsin metro areas placed among the top 20 drunkest cities in the U.S., according to 24/7 Wall Street's article published last month.

The list is based on self-reported drinking rates among adults in 381 metro areas across the country. Data was aggregated with county-level data from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute joint program.

Nationwide, approximately 18% of adults drink to excess. Excessive drinking can take the form of binge drinking or heavy drinking.

Excessive drinking leads to risky behavior, including driving while intoxicated. Drunk driving accounts for 31% of roadway fatalities nationwide. In many cities with the highest excessive drinking rates, the share of deadly car crashes attributable to alcohol is higher. In Green Bay, a city where over a quarter of adults drink excessively, 47.5% of fatal car accidents involve alcohol.

The Affordable Care Act's Effect on

Requests for Health and Dental Care

Enrollment in the Healthcare Marketplace through the Affordable Care Act began in late 2013 and really surged in early 2014, when coverage began. As illustrated in the graphs below, requests to IMPACT 2-1-1 for dental care and treatment, as well as outpatient healthcare, began to decline as soon as ACA coverage became available to people.

Outpatient healthcare, and dental care and treatment are both subcategories of the major needs category - Healthcare - in which IMPACT 2-1-1 has received 5,105 requests YTD.

Organizational Change Model Results in Fewer Inpatient Psychiatric Readmissions

"Reducing Psychiatric Inpatient Readmissions Using an Organizational Change Model" was recently published in the Wisconsin Medical Society's WMJ. The article describes the mental health readmissions project aimed at reducing psychiatric inpatient readmissions in Wisconsin.

Thirty-day hospital readmission rates have become a quality indicator for many regulators and payers, but published accounts of reducing these rates across a patient population

are lacking. The WMJ article reports that 30-day readmission rates declined significantly for counties that participated in the project when compared to those that did not.

John Hyatt, President & CEO, represented IMPACT in the project which also included Todd Molfenter, PhD, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Health Enhancement Systems Studies; Tim Connor and Dan Zimmerman from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services; and James H. Ford II, PhD, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Health Systems Research and Analysis.

IMPACT | impactinc.org

6737 West Washington Street, Suite 2225

Milwaukee, WI 53214