Month: September 2012

The Wisconsin Medical Society is launching a statewide initiative to make advance care planning - including the sensitive and often difficult conversations about end-of-life care - a standard part of patient care. The initiative - Honoring Choices Wisconsin - is modeled after a communitywide initiative in La Crosse that has drawn national attention as well as a similar initiative by the Twin Cities Medical Society in Minnesota. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 9/21)

There’s a newcomer on the Forbes list of the top 400 richest Americans and she’s from the Madison area. Judy Faulkner, 68, who founded medical software company Epic Systems Corp. in 1979, has a net worth of $1.7 billion and comes in at No. 285 on the annual Forbes list. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 9/20)

A new budget request from the state Department of Health Services does not include funding to expand the Family Care program into Brown County and six other Northeastern Wisconsin counties. (GREEN BAY PRESS GAZETTE, 9/20)

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen on Tuesday appealed and sought a stay of last week's ruling finding that Wisconsin's recent limits on public-sector collective bargaining are unconstitutional. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 9/19)

As president of the Madison-based health insurance buying pool The Alliance, Cheryl DeMars spends her days haggling with providers over the cost of services. It's a tough job, given that health care spending continues to skyrocket. So when DeMars sees another shiny new medical clinic opening, in her mind it means at least one thing: prices are going up again. (CAPITAL TIMES, 9/19)