Thursday, June 11, 2009
1:15 P.M.
Ninety-Ninth Regular Session
STATE OF WISCONSIN
Senate Journal
The Senate met.
The Senate was called to order by Chief Clerk Marchant, pursuant to Senate Rule 5 (4)(b).
The Chair, with unanimous consent, asked that the proper entries be made in the journal.
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Chief Clerk's Entries
Bills Presented to the Governor
The Chief Clerk records:
Senate Bill 51
Presented to the Governor on 6-11-2009.
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Petitions and Communications
State of Wisconsin
Department of Employee Trust Funds
Department of Health Services
June 8, 2009
The Honorable, The Senate:
Wis Stats. 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.
As both the national and state levels, efforts are under way to transform health care through the use of health information technology. 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. Wisconsin is uniquely positioned to participate in these federal efforts to transform the health care delivery system because of it technical resources and strong industry partners in the technology and health care sectors, and the commitment and intellectual capacity across the public and private sectors brought to this work.
As a result of the ground-breaking work done by the Wisconsin Health Information Organization, 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 have information available to them that will help them identify where quality and cost variation exists and answer the question, "What care provides the most value to patients?"
WHIO is 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. We are fully committed to working in partnership with the other health care stakeholders across the state through WHIO.
Please find enclosed the first annual report on the activities of WHIO, as well as a fact sheet on WHIO and a WHIO Board Membership Roster. If you have any questions, please contact Denise Webb, eHealth Program Manager, at (608) 267-6767.
Sincerely,
david stella
Secretary
Department of Employee Trust Funds
karen e. timberlake
Secretary
Department of Health Services
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Adjournment
Chief Clerk Marchant, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate adjourn until Tuesday, June 15, 2009.
Adjourned.
1:16 P.M.
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