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An open letter to the community from Dr. Nick Turkal, CEO, Aurora Health CareIt's been over 2 weeks since we announced that Aurora and Advanced Health Care will come together under a broad affiliation agreement. In the interest of further integrating the care we provide to our patients as part of this affiliation, we announced a plan to build a hospital in the Village of Grafton in Ozaukee County. So far, the feedback we have received through e-mails, phone calls and messages posted on our Web page has been overwhelmingly positive. Primarily through the news media, some people are expressing concern that our plan for a new hospital will impact health care costs in this area. I know through what I've learned listening to you that there's genuine concern that the cost of health care in this area is substantially higher than in other midwest communities. Any discussion of the delivery of quality care for the people we serve here cannot ignore those concerns. But there's some very good news on cost to share that's probably not widely known in our community. Working together, businesses and health care systems here in Milwaukee have made significant progress in lowering health care costs over recent years and costs are moving consistently closer to the Midwest average. While we are still slightly above this average, there's no longer a great difference reported from data that is now 7 years old.* This positive progress must continue. We at Aurora are absolutely committed to reducing the cost of care for our patients and their employers. Employing efficiency and productivity tools like Six Sigma and Lean, we have been able to take significant costs out of our own operations. One of the important benefits of providing integrated health care is reduced cost. Since our founding, we have built Aurora to be the only truly integrated health care system in Wisconsin. We are not a hospital system. In fact, only 1/3 of the care we provide is in a hospital setting. We are moving care out into the community, where our patients can easily access what they need – clinics, pharmacies, home health care, even hospice. And we are uniquely positioned to coordinate each patient's care across the continuum. Our affiliation agreement with Advanced Healthcare will strengthen and broaden the benefits of integrated care for people throughout our community. It's becoming increasing clear that our model of integrated care is successfully making care better and more cost effective for our patients. A benchmark study of 2005 data showed that Aurora Health Care's costs as compared to the other major health systems in the Milwaukee area were only 1% higher than the community average. Analysis of data available for 2006, notes that the trend continues and Aurora's costs had moved below the community average.** We're absolutely committed to continuing those positive trends. As we listen carefully to the concerns of business and community leaders and our patients, we'll continue to relentlessly pursue ways to improve care for the people we serve. The goal is accessible, quality, affordable care. I appreciate your spending a few minutes with this message and would be grateful to hear any thoughts or questions you may have. Thank you. Nick Turkal, MD *Data regarding Milwaukee Health Care Cost relative to the Midwest Average using data from 2003 based on a study conducted by Milliman, Inc. and Mercer Human Resource Consulting for the Greater Milwaukee Business Foundation on Health , Inc. and 2004 through September of 2006 based on analysis prepared by Milliman Consultants and Actuaries, Gregory N. Herrle, F.S.A. ** Benchmark Study of Aurora Health Care costs relative to Milwaukee area Average costs for 2005 and 2006 analysis of same prepared by The Benefits Services Group, Inc. The benchmark study was based on data reported in the 2005 State Fiscal Survey and data from the Wisconsin Hospital Association. The 2006 analysis updated the benchmark data using Aurora's 2006 discounts. Gerald Frye, President. This data was further audited by Reden and Anders an Ingenix Company.
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