Category Archives: Primacy of Primary Care
Walmart, Amazon may crack out-of-control health costs

Finally, the big dogs are stepping up into the fight to tame the Medical Industrial Complex (MIC) and get health costs under some semblance of control. Walmart, Amazon, Walgreens and CVS, four powerhouse companies with great clout and reach in … Read the rest
Don Weber on bleeding edge of health care delivery

Employees at Don Weber’s five companies in LaCrosse get three hours off out of every 40-hour week to work on their well-being. He fervently believes that employees who are mentally and physically fit are happier, more productive and less likely … Read the rest
Mushrooming medical homes change the game

Washington County and Wisconsin are right in the middle of a seismic shift in the delivery of health care in America – from primary care as a loss leader for the big hospital corporations to medical homes for employes right … Read the rest
Reformers race to proactive primary health care

The number two executive for one of the biggest health care systems in the country, a primary doctor contracted by employers in Wisconsin and a private sector payer make the case for a disruptive new business model to shake the … Read the rest
A grand state strategy: medical homes for all

If Wisconsin, or any other state, wanted to adopt an over-arching strategy for the health care of its citizens, there is a proven one available. Private sector employers that have created medical homes for their employees have achieved remarkable improvements … Read the rest
Business getting serious about mental health

Companies across America have moved into wellness and prevention programs, and they are seeing hospital admissions for their workforce drop. But they have mostly been focused on chronic physical conditions like diabetes, asthma and hypertension. At Serigraph, for instance, we … Read the rest
School district may go to on-site clinic

There is a stampede in the private sector toward work-site clinics. More than one-quarter of the 1000 largest companies in the country have installed their own medical teams to deliver primary care on-site. And public payers are starting to move … Read the rest
Employers stampede to on-site care

The mega-trend of employers taking over primary care in on-site clinics at the workplace continues unabated. It’s like a prairie fire. Here are some data points from the Heartland: • QuadMed, the Wisconsin-based subsidiary of QuadGraphics, now runs 23 contract … Read the rest
Canada primary care system eroding

Does this sound familiar? Rick Trimp, executive director of Population Health for Saskatchewan, says the primary care doctors of Canada have a narrowing set of skills and therefore are acting more like traffic cops directing patients to specialists. Many no … Read the rest
Revolution in primary care goes big time

Chalk up another win for the entrepreneurial forces in the Milwaukee region and for reshaping the business model for the delivery of health care. The dual win comes from the sale of ModernMed, a startup with roots in Milwaukee, to … Read the rest