WISHIN Works for EMS Providers

February 2022

WISHIN Participant Updates

Gundersen Health System is contracted to use WISHIN and send all interface types.
Community Health Systems of Wisconsin, Lake Shore Community Health Care, and Milwaukee Health Services have contracted through its relationship with OCHIN to use WISHIN Pulse and send ADT and CCDA
Security Health Plan has contracted to send Care Plans to WISHIN
Advocate Aurora Health has added Mount Pleasant Hospital to the WISHIN network.
SSM-Monroe Clinic is contracted to send all interfaces to WISHIN
Children's Hospital of WI has contracted to send all interface types.
Vernon Memorial Hospital is contracted to use WISHIN and send all interface types.
Froedtert Health has contracted to send all interface types, and has added Holy Family Medical Center and Wisconsin Diagnostic Laboratories to the WISHIN network.
DHS-DCTS has contracted to send all interface types to WISHIN.
Network Health has signed to receive DAV Quality Reporting files from WISHIN
Group Health Cooperative- Eau Claire has signed to receive DAV Quality Reporting files from WISHIN
Ascension has consolidated all Wisconsin-based Ascension ministries into a single Ascension Health agreement with WISHIN.
Marshfield Medical Center-Beaver Dam has signed to add CCDA and pathology records to WISHIN Pulse.

Who's in the network?

http://wishin.org/ParticipatingProviders/WISHINParticipantMap.aspx

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ANOTHER RECORD-BREAKING MONTH FOR WISHIN

WISHIN continues to set new usage records for the WISHIN Pulse Community Health Record.

There were 365,358 chart views in January, breaking the record of 341,919 established one month earlier.

That’s not the only record-breaking number in January. There were 64,644 patient queries in the month, smashing the previous record of 62,420 set in March 2021.

Cumulatively, the WISHIN Pulse Community Health Record now contains:

· More than 30 million care summaries

· 1.2 billion ADT transactions

· 8 million radiology reports

· Nearly 247 million lab and pathology results

WISHIN had its best year ever in 2021. With new functionality and new hospitals and other participants scheduled to join the network soon, 2022 is almost certain to establish still more WISHIN records.

Ryan Brothers Ambulance

Bell Ambulance

WISHIN WORKS FOR EMS PROVIDERS

Emergency medical services (EMS) providers face unique challenges in carrying out their lifesaving work. They are on the front lines of health care and often must make split-second decisions about how to care for patients whose clinical history is unknown to them and who may not be able to communicate. In addition, they must rely on information from other providers to file claims and receive reimbursement for their services.

Bell Ambulance and Ryan Brothers Ambulance are among the EMS providers participating in the WISHIN network.

WISHIN assists its EMS partners by providing access to clinical data for their billing purposes. For example, EMS providers must typically provide face sheets documenting the emergency department encounters at the hospitals to which they transport patients. Such documentation is often not complete by the time the ambulance crew leaves the hospital, requiring EMS organizations to contact the hospital, often multiple times, to request needed information.

WISHIN allows EMS organizations to bypass the manual follow-up process by retrieving face sheets and other information directly from the WISHIN Pulse system. EMS organizations thus can be paid more promptly and hospitals are relieved of the administrative burden of responding to inquiries.

Bell Ambulance, based in Milwaukee, answers more than 100,000 calls for ambulance service each year. Erik Rhine, the Revenue Cycle Coordinator at Bell, says the service provided by WISHIN is “a valuable tool for us.” Rhine says he would “absolutely” recommend WISHIN to other ambulance agencies.

Ryan Brothers Ambulance is based in Madison. It is the largest privately-owned ambulance service in Dane County. The company operates seven stations in three counties. A company spokesman says “WISHIN allows us to access the information we need more efficiently, which saves us time and money.”

WISHIN can do more for EMS organizations. While the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS) provides statistical information about EMS services, it does provide medical histories of patients. WISHIN can provide the clinical histories that can guide EMS professionals in their decision-making process, another way that WISHIN can be a source of unique and indispensable value to its participants.

THE MILWAUKEE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND WISHIN

The Milwaukee Fire Department handles more than 100,000 calls each year. Almost 80 percent of those calls involve medical emergencies. Assistant Chief Joshua Parish NRP, MSc, MPH heads the EMS Training, Education and Wellness Bureau of the MFD.

“How can we transfer information history about a patient to a provider and do it seamlessly?” Parish asks. He knows the answer. “The answer to that is WISHIN.”

Prior to teaming up with WISHIN, Parish says members of his bureau spent a great deal of time using the fax machine to communicate with hospitals and other providers to exchange patient information. He says immediate access to patient information through WISHIN is good for the patient, and for efficiency in his department.

“WISHIN helps from a billing standpoint and from a public health standpoint,” Parish says. “We know more and can make more informed prevention efforts about specific patient populations. This helps from a patient-care standpoint.”

WISHIN’s ability to assist Parish’s department prompted Parish to recommend WISHIN to the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility and the Milwaukee County Jail. Parish says that although they are located across the street from each other, they could not share resources and reported to different medical directors. He says their decisions to join WISHIN benefit those facilities and his department.

“It’s great for them because they can provide better care,” Parish says. “It’s great for us because it reduces unnecessary transports.” Parish says his department handled more than a thousand calls a year from the facilities prior to WISHIN’s involvement. He says the number of calls now is down to a handful.

“I would absolutely recommend WISHIN to other EMS providers,” Parish says.

For more information on how WISHIN can help make life easier for you, contact wishin.org

WISHIN PARTICIPANT PROFILE:

MY CHOICE WISCONSIN

My Choice Wisconsin was created in 2020 through the merger of Care Wisconsin and My Choice Family Care. Melissa Eilbes BSN,RN is the director of clinical and operational resources and support for My Choice Wisconsin. Eilbes started at My Choice Wisconsin as a field nurse. She knows the challenges facing field nurses. She says WISHIN has helped to address the challenge of accessing patient records.

When Eilbes started at My Choice Wisconsin, “I only found out if my patients were hospitalized if they told me.” Eilbes says she could not always help with care transition because she may not have been aware her patient had been hospitalized. She says “WISHIN is a game-changer. I had more information than I had ever had thanks to WISHIN.”

My Choice Wisconsin delivers innovative and cost-effective programs and services to nearly 40,000 residents throughout the state. The provider offers Family Care, Family Care Partnership, Medicare Dual Advantage, Medicaid SSI and BadgerCare Plus. My Choice Wisconsin works with local agencies and health care providers to ensure its members have ample choices and high-quality support and services from a diverse network. With more than 900 employees, My Choice Wisconsin is a major contributor to the economic health of Wisconsin in addition to keeping Wisconsin residents physically healthy.

“I really like our mission,” Eilbes says. “We serve people who are not always receiving the best health care. We step in to help them navigate the complicated health care world.”

Eilbes says WISHIN plays a major role in assisting My Choice Wisconsin with its work. She says WISHIN “makes a world of difference.” She calls WISHIN “very beneficial, very valuable.” She says she would “absolutely” recommend WISHIN to other providers. “It’s a challenge to communicate between the community and the health care system,” Eilbes says. “WISHIN has really helped us open those lines of communication.”

WISHIN STATEMENT

REGARDING THE ACQUISITION OF KPI NINJA BY HEALTH CATALYST INC.

February 22, 2022 – WISHIN CEO Joe Kachelski made the following statement today regarding the announcement that KPI Ninja, Inc., will be acquired by Health Catalyst, Inc.:

“We are aware of today’s announcement that KPI Ninja, Inc., one of the two vendors with which WISHIN has contracted to provide the technical foundation for its “WISHIN 2.0” services, will be acquired by Health Catalyst, Inc.

We are confident as a result of our conversations with both parties that our strong and productive business relationship with KPI Ninja will continue. We have been assured that KPI’s key personnel and technology will remain in place.

Indeed, the infusion of capital and other resources should position KPI Ninja to do more of what it does best – provide innovative and responsive interoperability services that benefit organizations like WISHIN and their participants.”