Wisconsin Initiative to Promote Healthy Lifestyles (WIPHL) Helps Bellin Health Launch New Behavioral Screening and Intervention Services

A mom consuming 10 to 12 beers and a gram of pot daily gives it all up over the course of a year… A man drinking a case of beer a week cuts back to one or two drinks per day – lowering his triglycerides and improving his marriage… A homeless man with a drinking problem gives up alcohol and begins studying to be a substance abuse counselor...

What’s remarkable is that each of these people sought medical attention for an issue unrelated to their drinking or drug use. They were helped by the behavioral screening and intervention (BSI) services program of the Wisconsin Initiative to Promote Healthy Lifestyles (WIPHL). The program was implemented in a number of health care settings across the state over the last five years.

Now Bellin Health is making innovative changes in two of its primary care clinics to provide similar services, helping patients reduce health risks related to unhealthy drinking and other behavioral issues. Bellin’s family medical centers in Ashwaubenon and Howard are adding a BSI program to their primary care settings. They began delivering services Monday, November 28.

BSI has been proven to substantially improve patient health as it relates to tobacco, alcohol and other substance use, and depression. It can also help address unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and obesity.

How BSI Works:

BSI involves screening patients in primary care, emergency room, and hospital settings for a set of behaviors or behavioral conditions known to cause 40 percent of deaths, most chronic illness, and most disability in the United States.  Patients respond to initial questions that quantify their risks and identify problems early, when treatment is more effective, easier, and less expensive.  Those with mild-to-moderate risk receive brief medical interventions within the BSI primary clinic facilities to help them change their behaviors and reduce their risk.

A dedicated health educator trained in motivational interviewing facilitates the program utilizing an empathic, respectful and collaborative approach to promoting behavior change. The health educator works to help patients find their own motivations for changing behavior.

Occasionally BSI will uncover patients with serious conditions, such as alcoholism, addiction or depression.  The health educator will refer those patients back to their family doctors or to specialists for a higher level of treatment.

“This is simply the right thing to do for our patients,” says Becki Detaege, team leader, Clinical Support Services, Bellin Medical Group. “In our community – and communities across the state – unhealthy behaviors and behavioral conditions cause or contribute to a number of health problems.  Risky and problem drinking are especially prevalent. This BSI program will help us improve patient health and reduce health care costs. We’ve built in the resources so that our patients can get the help they need to improve their health and reduce their risks without placing the burden on our current providers.”

Wisconsin’s rates of problem drinking are among the highest in the nation. The state leads the country in drunk driving. Alcohol and drug use are the fourth leading cause of death and hospitalization in Wisconsin. The problems are well documented, but so is the effectiveness of alcohol screening and intervention. The National Commission on Prevention Priorities ranks alcohol screening and intervention fourth in effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of all preventive services recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. That ranks higher than screening for high blood pressure, cholesterol, and all kinds of cancer.

“The public health imperative to address unhealthy behaviors is indisputable,” says Richard L. Brown, MD, MPH, professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Brown is clinical director of the Wisconsin Initiative to Promote Healthy Lifestyles (WIPHL), which provides training and support to Bellin and other primary care clinics wanting to start BSI programs. “Bellin deserves lots of credit for getting this program up and running. Every health care provider I talk to understands the problem. Most agree this solution makes sense. But Bellin is acting now to further improve the quality and efficiency of their health care.”

WIPHL, which is part of the UW Department of Family Medicine, has already helped dozens of Wisconsin healthcare settings deliver BSI. More than 117,000 patients have been screened, and more than 26,000 have received interventions. Results of those interventions include a 20% decline in binge drinking, a 48% reduction in regular marijuana use, and a 55% reduction in depressive symptoms. Patient satisfaction was extremely high throughout those interactions.

Dr. Jason Wurth, a family physician at Bellin’s Ashwaubenon clinic, has long championed BSI.

“Patient education has been an essential part of the care I provide. I’ve helped a number of patients that are battling behavioral issues – but I know there are many more that could be helped. Now we have a system to ensure that everyone gets the care they need. At Bellin, we have an ambitious goal: that the people in our region will be the healthiest in the nation. This is going to bring us closer to attaining that goal.”

###

About Bellin Health

Bellin Health, www.bellin.org, is an integrated health care delivery system based in Green Bay, Wis. It has serviced people in Northeast Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula since 1908. It is comprised of Bellin Hospital, Bellin Psychiatric Center, 26 Bellin Health Family Medical Center primary care physician clinics, and several retail health clinics known as Bellin Health FastCare. Bellin also operates Bellin Health Partners, a physician-hospital organization with more than 200 specialty physician members, the Oconto Hospital & Medical Center, a critical care access hospital in Oconto, Bellin Fitness Center with four locations, and Bellin College. With its 3,080 employees, Bellin Health is known for its emphasis on preventive health care and is the region’s leader in cardiac, orthopedics, sports medicine, digestive health, mental health, and primary care medicine.

Wisconsin Initiative to Promote Healthy Lifestyles

WIPHL and the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality have joined forces with the national Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement, the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative and Minnesota’s Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement to form Partners in Integrated Care (PIC) – a multi‐state effort to ensure that primary healthcare settings routinely identify and address depression and unhealthy substance use. PIC is funded by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).  WIPHL is an outreach program of the Department of Family Medicine of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

To learn more about the project, contact WIPHL Communications Director, Jonathan Zarov, (608) 262-7338; jonathan.zarov@fammed.wisc.edu.

Jonathan Zarov
Communications Specialist
Wisconsin Initiative to Promote Healthy Lifestyles (WIPHL)
330 E. Lakeside Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53715
608-262-7338
http://www.wiphl.com/