Referral of Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Department of Employee Trust Funds
Department of Health Services
Madison
June 1, 2010
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
Wis. Stat. §
153.05 (2s) directs the Department of Health Services and the Department of Employee Trust Funds to jointly prepare an annual report on the activities of the Wisconsin Health Information Organization (WHIO). The Departments are required to submit this report to the standing committees of the Legislature with jurisdiction over health issues.
At both the national and state levels, efforts are under way to transform health care through the use of health information technology (HIT). The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 appropriated over $35 billion to advance the adoption of electronic health records and to create standardized electronic health information exchange (HIE). Health IT allows comprehensive management of medical information and its secure exchange between health care consumers and providers. Broad use of HIT has the potential to improve health care quality, prevent medical errors, increase the efficiency of care, reduce unnecessary health care costs, increase administrative efficiencies, decrease paperwork, expand access to affordable care, and improve population health.
WHIO is just one example of Wisconsin's leadership in using electronic health information to drive changes in the health care system and prepares Wisconsin well to move forward in developing statewide HIE-an effort that is proceeding under the stewardship of the WIRED for Health Board. As a result of the ground-breaking work done by WHIO, and once statewide HIE becomes available, both public and private sector health care purchasers will have the ability to measure the quality and price of health care services and use that information to increase the value of future purchases. Health care providers will be better able to identify where quality and cost variation exists and answer the question, "What care provides the most value to patients?"
WHIO is also an excellent example of a collaborative public-private partnership and an extremely important initiative for Wisconsin to achieve transparency in health care and promote better health care outcomes for the people of Wisconsin. WHIO's efforts to convene a statewide conversation around payment and delivery system reform are commendable and will help Wisconsin move toward rewarding quality patient outcomes and creating incentives for more cost-effective care, not just more care. We continue to be fully committed to working in partnership with the other health care stakeholders across the state through WHIO.
Please find enclosed the second annual report on the activities of WHIO, as well as a fact sheet on WHIO, and a Frequently Asked Questions document. If you have any questions, please contact Denise Webb, State Health IT Coordinator, at (608) 267-6767.
Sincerely,
David A. Stella
Secretary
Employee Trust Fund
Karen E. Timberlake
Secretary
Department of Health Services
Referred to committee on Health and Healthcare Reform.
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State of Wisconsin
Department of Transportation
Madison
June 2, 2010
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
I am pleased to present to you, for distribution to the Wisconsin Assembly, the annual evaluation report on the Pretrial Intoxicated Driver Intervention Grant Program. It will also be available on our website in the near future at dot.wisconsin.gov/library/publications/topic/safety.htm. The program, created by section 86.53 Wis. Stats., was established by the legislature in 1997 with the requirement that the Department study its impact and report on its findings.
The Pretrial Intoxicated Driver Intervention Grant Program is intended for offenders who are arrested for their second or subsequent OWI (Operating While Intoxicated) offense. Offender participation may be voluntary or court ordered. It is an intervention model designed to get offenders into counseling, treatment and supervision as soon as possible after the arrest. The program is individual to each community.
Overall, offenders who successfully completed the program were less likely than non-participants to be re-arrested for subsequent OWI violations. Those who were re-arrested went significantly longer between arrests than nonparticipants.
I commend those people who have dedicated themselves to making this innovative program a success. There are no "silver bullets" in eradicating impaired driving, but I feel this effort is a vital piece in the total transportation safety effort.
Sincerely,
Major Daniel W. Lonsdorf
Director, Bureau of Transportation Safety
Referred to committee on Transportation.
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A991
State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
Madison
June 10, 2010
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
The Department of Administration is reporting the status of the state's purchase of 10% of its electricity from renewable sources per s.
16.75 (12)(e). For calendar year 2009, the state has acquired 105,293,604 kWh of renewable electricity for the named state agencies; Department of Administration, Department of Corrections, Department of Health Services, Department of Public Instruction, Department of Veterans Affairs and the Board of Regents University of Wisconsin System. The purchase was made from three utilities; MG&E, We Energies and WPPI Energy.
DOA explored a variety of purchasing options for the renewable electricity and settled on two contracts that purchase the renewable electricity through an existing green power purchasing program offered by the utility for all of their customers. The MG&E purchase is under the Business Renewable Energy Program Rider and the We Energies purchase is through their Energy for Tomorrow program. Both these programs offer renewable energy for $0.01 above the regular cost of electricity. The third purchase through WPPI Energy provides a long-term purchase contract at a fixed price which will provide a hedge against future electricity increases due to increased costs related to carbon reduction efforts.
The state also diversified the sources of the renewable electricity purchased through these three utilities. Renewable electricity is coming from three wind farms in Wisconsin, two wind farms in Iowa, landfill gas from SE Wisconsin and customer sited photovoltaics. Approximately 91% is from wind, 8.8% from biogas and 0.2% from solar photovoltaics.
I welcome your comments or questions.
Sincerely,
David Helbach
Secretary State Building Commission
Administrator Division of State Facilities
Referred to committee on Renewable Energy and Rural Affairs.
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State of Wisconsin
Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan Authority
Madison
June 10, 2010
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
Enclosed is a copy of the HIRSP Authority's 2009 Annual Report. This is to fulfill our requirement of Statutes 149.43 (6) and referenced in 13.172 (2) of the Wisconsin State Statutes.
If you require any other information please contact our Operations Manager, Josh Weisbrod at 608-441-5777
Sincerely,
Jackie Ferris
Executive Assistant
Referred to committee on Insurance.
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Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Department of Employee Trust Funds
Madison
March 24, 2010
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
I am pleased to present the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) of the Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) for the year ended December 31, 2008. Management is responsible for both the accuracy of the data and the completeness and fairness of the presentation. I hope you will find this report useful and informative.
This report is intended to provide comprehensive and reliable information about ETF, the WRS, and other benefit plans and trust funds administered by the Department. I would like to express my appreciation to the Governor, members of the legislature, members of the boards, staff, employers, participants, and all those whose efforts and interest combine to assure the successful operation of our system, while protecting the integrity of the trust funds.
Sincerely,
David A. Stella
Secretary
