Benefits of Membership

On behalf of the Surgery Center Association of Wisconsin (WISCA) Executive Board, I want to invite you to become a member of our organization.

The WISCA Executive Board continues to recognize the fact that you have many demands on your dollars and time. In keeping with past efforts to demonstrate value to its current and prospective members, the Board has once again chosen to maintain its current dues structure.

Prospective members are encouraged to attend one of our quarterly membership meetings. In 2005 meetings will be held: March 17, June 14, September 13 and December 13; locations to be determined.

These quarterly meetings will bring you top-notch industry-related guest speakers, roundtable discussions and networking opportunities. And, yes, lunch is included. The membership meetings in conjunction with WISCA’s listserv, Web site, and affiliate membership in AAASC have proven to be excellent resources for information sharing which ultimately helps all of us achieve the goal of improving quality of care in surgery centers.

See the following highlights of our 2004 guest speaker presentations.

•   We kicked off the 2004 meeting schedule in March with Terry Moen, MS, JD, Director, OSHA Consultation Section, Division of Public Health, Bureau of Occupational Health, who addressed OSHA’s perspectives as they relate to health care workers and their ability to interpret the Bloodborne Pathogen Standard and make it work in the clinical setting.
•   Our summer meeting was hosted at Marshfield Clinic where our guest speaker was Julie Finbraaten. Julie gave a presentation and video tour of the GI Unit that she manages at Marshfield, where over 8,000 procedures are performed annually.
•   Attendees at the September meeting were fortunate to hear two presentations. Debbie Rickelman, RHIT, Information Center Manager at the Wisconsin Hospital Association discussed changes in file layout and submission of WHA (formerly OHCI) reports. Jim Hook, Director of Medical Imaging with Dean Health Systems spoke on generational diversity.

•   We closed out the year with a meeting hosted at The Surgery Center at Associated Surgical & Medical Specialists, LLC. WISCA was pleased to have Scott Becker, JD, CPA, a partner in the national law firm of McGuireWoods as the guest speaker. Scott addressed physician/hospital joint ventures, the state of ASC’s on a national level, as well as the fraud & abuse statute and investor-owned ASC.

I urge you to join WISCA. As in years past, the rapid pace of change within the industry will continue. Your need for answers to manage change will also continue. Interacting with your peers is an excellent way to get those answers. Please respond today and remain a part of the surgery center leadership team. Complete a 2005 membership application today!

Sincerely,

Denise Augustin
President