The Milwaukee Health Care Partnership (MHCP) is evolving its successful Emergency Department to Medical Home (EDMH) Program into the Connect To Care Program, marking a significant step forward in broadening access to essential healthcare services for the Milwaukee community. This expansion reflects the changing landscape of healthcare delivery and the evolving needs of patients, ensuring residents can readily access timely and appropriate medical care.
Building upon the foundation of the EDMH program, Connect to Care aims to bridge gaps in healthcare access by extending its reach beyond emergency departments. Since 2009, the EDMH program has effectively screened and connected high-risk emergency department patients with primary care health homes for follow-up appointments. Utilizing proven patient engagement strategies and a community-wide appointment scheduling system, the EDMH program enabled emergency department providers to directly schedule follow-up appointments for patients before they left the hospital. This proactive approach aimed to establish long-term healthcare homes for individuals, addressing their ongoing health needs and minimizing avoidable emergency department visits and hospital readmissions. The EDMH program has achieved remarkable success, scheduling over 60,000 appointments and demonstrating a significant 44% reduction in subsequent ER visits for patients who attended their scheduled follow-up.
This expansion into the Connect to Care Program recognizes the broader healthcare challenges faced by the community, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. “The program has demonstrated the capability and capacity to have a larger impact,” stated Greg Stadter, Director of Access at MHCP. “Post-pandemic, people are engaging less in preventative and regular primary, behavioral and oral health care. Through this expansion, we intend to leverage every opportunity to screen, link and engage patients with the right care at the right time in the right place – and involve them in the choice.” The Connect to Care Program is designed to address this shift by providing a more comprehensive network of referral and receiving organizations.
While the EDMH program primarily focused on eight adult emergency departments as referring organizations and over 20 primary care clinics as receiving organizations, Connect to Care significantly broadens this network. The expanded program will incorporate new referral sources, including inpatient hospitals, mobile health units, community-based lead testing clinics, health department clinics, and community paramedics. Furthermore, the network of receiving organizations will grow to include Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Access Clinics, offering crucial crisis behavioral health walk-in services, and dental clinics through a collaboration with the Milwaukee Oral Health Task Force, addressing a wider spectrum of healthcare needs including mental health and oral health.
Jenni Cadman, Director of Nursing for Care Management at Froedtert Hospital, highlights the benefits of this expanded network: “The additional receiving organizations participating in the Connect to Care network will give community health workers, discharge planners, like social workers and nurse case managers, paramedics and public health nurses more options – and give patients more choice.” The integration of WISHIN and Epic systems will further enhance care coordination by enabling healthcare providers to access patients’ past provider information and care management history, facilitating seamless “re-connection” to ongoing care when appropriate.
Both referring and receiving organizations participating in the Connect to Care Program will receive training in patient engagement practices. These proven strategies are designed to improve patient show rates and stick rates, ensuring that patients not only attend their initial appointments but also remain engaged with their healthcare providers for continuous care and improved health outcomes. The Connect to Care program represents a vital evolution in Milwaukee’s healthcare landscape, promising to enhance access to primary care, mental health services, and more, ultimately fostering a healthier community.
