StartingBlock Madison: Deadline Tomorrow (May 26) to Apply for Madworks Mission Based Accelerator

The Madworks Mission Based Accelerator, Summer 2023, runs every Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from June 14 through August 17. (Taking a break the week of July 4).

In order to learn more about you and your company, we’d like you to complete the Mission Based Accelerator application. Once we receive your application, we will be in touch to discuss next steps.

Learn more information here.

Apply here.

If you have questions, contact Leslie Weissburg at leslie@startingblockmadison.org.

Outcomes looking good for WPS midway through Depression Screening Innovation Challenge

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
DeAnne Boegli
Vice President of Communications
608-512-5754
deanne.boegli@wpsic.com

Outcomes looking good for WPS midway through Depression Screening Innovation Challenge

MADISON, Wis.—May 23, 2023—At WPS Health Solutions, the company’s WPS Government Health Administrators division has reached the halfway point in its 12-month Depression Screening Innovation Challenge Grant project issued by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Midway through the project, the outcomes of the division’s efforts look promising. 

In November 2019, CMS issued a challenge to Medicare Administrative Contractors. WPS accepted the challenge and is now in its third year of working toward increasing the use of chronic care management and depression screening for Medicare beneficiaries in Medicare Jurisdictions 5 and 8. Based upon success in years one and two, WPS added combating health inequities to the project’s scope.    

The Innovation Challenge project team is led by the WPS Government Health Administrators Medical Director, Dr. Joelle Vlahakis. Her team includes data analysts, educators, billing specialists, and a population health specialist.  

“Innovation requires the willingness to recognize when an idea needs to be altered or abandoned in favor of a better idea, and we are up for the challenge,” Vlahakis said. “Our priorities align with CMS’ priorities, and we have a special interest in areas where health care disparities are high.”  

The company’s efforts in the first and second years of the depression screening pilot were successful, and WPS saw a 13% increase in screening in Jurisdiction 8 in the first year alone. Increased depression screening appears to have lowered the rate of suicide attempts in both jurisdictions in the project’s first two years.  

“When patients enroll in chronic care management, their care is focused on what makes their life better. Care is less fragmented and dependent upon the use of emergency rooms or hospital stays. And providers of the care report that they can spend more time seeing patients face to face and less time managing crises,” Vlahakis said. 

Building on its success, WPS is using the Area Deprivation Index—a measure for the theoretical domains of income, education, employment, and housing quality—to combat health inequities in Jurisdiction 8. The ADI and beneficiaries’ ages are potent predictors of the risk of depression. ADI has been the foundation for WPS identifying places where social determinants of health are most likely to contribute to health inequities. 

“Our project team has found that connecting with organizations, societies, and other large groups has been productive and instructive. Aligning ourselves with such stakeholders, especially those whose purpose is to address the social drivers of health, has been especially compelling and useful. What we did not expect is that our one-on-one conversations with individual providers, clinicians, administrators, or even beneficiaries would also shape our approach to the project,” Vlahakis explained. 

The Innovation Challenge core work group is divided into two smaller groups. One work group focuses on the data and its analysis, and the other on educational outreach.   

Through WPS’ Provider Outreach and Education Department, the team educates practitioners, clinicians, and their support teams through webinars, a YouTube channel, and in-person events. Audiences vary (support staff, clinical staff, and providers, for example), and discussions are tailored to the skills demanded of each role. The team has worked to create a platform for high-quality education that is simple and accessible.  

Data analysis is another driving force in what WPS is accomplishing. Employees are examining and targeting their efforts based on three major points of data: 

1. Health care providers with a low utilization rate of depression screening  
2. Health care providers with the greatest number of beneficiaries in their jurisdiction  
3. An ADI score that falls greater than the 70th percentile where the risk of depression is highest 

WPS reported the following for Jurisdiction 8:  

• Based on 2021 data, WPS has established an average monthly goal of 7,341 depression screening claims. According to Medicare claims data from September 2022 to February 2023, WPS averaged 7,641 claims per month, which is 300 claims above the goal and is a 9% increase from 2021. 
• To analyze the efficacy of the educational intervention program on the most at-risk Medicare beneficiaries, WPS is tracking the primary benchmark of a 2.5% increase in depression screening claim count for beneficiaries who live in the most at-risk neighborhoods. Based on 2021 data, WPS has established an average monthly goal of 2,444 depression screening claims. In the second quarter of year three, WPS averaged 2,366 claims per month, which is 78 claims below the goal and a 1% decrease from 2021.  
• To analyze the downstream impacts of its educational intervention program, WPS is tracking the primary benchmark of a 5% reduction in the number of claims featuring a suicide attempt diagnosis. Based on 2021 data, WPS established a monthly goal of 82 claims featuring a suicide attempt. In the second quarter of year three, WPS averaged 51 claims per month, which is 31 claims beyond the goal and equates to a 41% decrease from 2021. 

About WPS Health Solutions^®

Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation (WPS Health Solutions), founded in 1946, is a nationally regarded benefits administrator for a variety of U.S. government programs and a leading not-for-profit health insurer in Wisconsin. WPS Health Solutions serves active-duty and retired military personnel, seniors, individuals, and families in Wisconsin, across the U.S., and around the world. WPS Health Solutions, headquartered in Madison, Wis., has more than 2,600 employees. Within the enterprise, there are three divisions: WPS Government Health Administrators, WPS Military and Veterans Health, and WPS Health Insurance/WPS Health Plan/EPIC Specialty Benefits. For more information, please visit wpshealthsolutions.com.

About WPS Government Health Administrators^®

As a large contractor for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, WPS Government Health Administrators, a division of Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation, manages Medicare Part A and Part B benefits for more than 7 million seniors in multiple states.

WPS Government Health Administrators is headquartered in Madison, Wis. Visit the WPS Health Solutions About page for more information.

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Record attendance at Summit Fest – Summit Credit Union’s annual meeting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 23, 2023

Media Contact:
Jason Waller
(608) 243-5000
publicrelations@summitcreditunion.com 

Record attendance at Summit Fest – Summit Credit Union’s annual meeting 
Wisconsin Cooperative celebrates members and announces big wins at annual meeting and member picnic   

MADISON, Wis. – Summit Credit Union again held a novel annual membership meeting and family event called Summit Fest, welcoming 3505 members on Sunday, May 22. This is the largest attendance recorded for Summit’s annual member appreciation event. Members and their families took part in kids’ obstacle races, enjoyed yard games, and spent a fun time together eating a Wisconsin summer cookout.  

“We grow when we add value to our members and this annual event is an opportunity to both celebrate our achievements and show our members how much we appreciate them,” said Summit Credit Union CEO & President Kim Sponem. “This year, we have seen a large growth in assets, the largest acquisition of a bank by a credit union in US history, and we are in the Top Workplaces for Madison, Milwaukee and the USA. There’s a lot for our employees and our members to celebrate.”  

The celebration offered a short business meeting and family-friendly entertainment at the local baseball stadium, The Duck Pond, Mallard’s Stadium at Warner Park, Madison. Attractions at Summit Fest also included a diaper dash for toddlers, free mini cupcakes with the chance to win $10 to pay-it-forward, and the return of an employee-led cover band playing songs by an array of artists from The Blues Brothers to Taylor Swift to Queen.

Annual board meeting 

During the board meeting, Summit Credit Union’s 2022 successes were noted and included the following:  

• The acquisition of Commerce State Bank. This is the largest acquisition of a bank by a credit union in US history. With this acquisition we welcomed 71 employees, more than 5,700 new members and added four locations — West Bend, Elm Grove, Sheboygan, and Cedarburg.  
• Summit Credit Union saw a 29 percent growth in assets to more than $6.4 billion.  
• More than 43,000 new loans were secured for cars, homes, vacations, and other members’ goals.  
• Kiplinger and Investopedia reported Summit Credit Union’s 3-year certificate rate among the top in the nation.  
• Summit Credit Union was named a Top Workplace in Madison, Milwaukee, and the USA.  

About Summit Credit Union  

Established in 1935, Summit Credit Union is a member-owned financial cooperative. Summit holds $6.4 billion in assets and has more than 240,000 members and 945 employees across 55 locations throughout south-central and southeastern Wisconsin. Since 2002, Kim Sponem has been CEO & President of Summit Credit Union, formerly known as CUNA Credit Union/Great Wisconsin Credit Union. Recognized for its excellence in employee engagement, Summit was named a Top Workplace in the USA in 2021, 2022 and 2023 by Top Workplaces USA and a Top Workplace in the Madison area for 2021, 2022 and 2023 by the Wisconsin State Journal.  

For more information, visit www.summitcreditunion.com or call 608-243-5000 or 800-236-5560. For additional media information, visit https://www.summitcreditunion.com/about-summit/press-room or follow Summit on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

Kraus-Anderson completes Kia Subaru renovation in Janesville, Wis.

JANESVILLE, Wis. (May 2023) – The Madison office of Kraus-Anderson (KA) has completed the renovation of Janesville Kia and Janesville Subaru located at 3301 North Pontiac Dr. in Janesville, Wis.  The dealerships are owned by Janesville-based Home Run Auto Group.

Designed by R.B. Custom Designs, the $1.76 million, 7,485-square-foot project renovated an existing, abandoned motorcycle storage building into a car wash and auto detailing center.  The new building offers two car wash bays, two detailing bays, a photo booth room, undercoating bay and a new surface lot for overflow parking for both Kia and Subaru dealerships.

KA constructed the Janesville Kia and Janesville Subaru in 2016, and has built several other dealerships for Home Run Auto Group, including Kenosha Subaru in Bristol, Wis., and Racine Honda and Racine Hyundai in Mount Pleasant, Wis.

About Kraus-Anderson

Established in 1897, Kraus-Anderson (www.krausanderson.com) is an integrated construction management and real estate development enterprise working independently and in collaboration with a family of companies, including insurance, mortgage and realty operations. Kraus-Anderson, an EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability employer, is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. and has regional offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wis., Bismarck, N.D., and Duluth, Bemidji and Rochester Minn.

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One Community Bank Hosts Power of ONE Community Week!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 18, 2023

Contact:
Ameilia Abraham
One Community Bank
608-838-3141
aabraham@onecommunity.bank

One Community Bank Hosts Power of ONE Community Week!

(May 2023) – One Community Bank is proud to participate in Wisconsin Banker Association’s Power of Community Week. OCB celebrated the week with a two-week food drive, a teach children to save initiative, ONE last push to apply for the OCB scholarship, announcement of the OCB Shred Event at its Oregon location and celebrating our partnership with WayForward Resources.

“One Community Bank is proud to play an active role in our community, after all, community is our middle name. I am proud of all the colleagues that made Power of Community Week possible and took the time out of their workday to give back to the communities we serve,” said Steve Peotter, President and CEO. “One Community Bank is thrilled to deepen our relationship with WayForward Resources, Porchlight and school districts in south central Wisconsin. We are delighted to contribute to the impact they are making,” added Peotter.

One Community Bank was proud to host a community food drive again this year from April 17-29 at its Adams, Grand Marsh, McFarland, Middleton, Oxford, Stoughton, Sun Prairie, and Waunakee locations. Our Oregon location ended its food drive on May 9. OCB is ecstatic to donate a total of 810 pounds of food and other requested items to our communities’ food pantries! The food drive consisted of donations from clients and colleagues.

OCB was delighted to provide financial literacy to students across the rainbow of its communities in south central Wisconsin. Our educational program was geared towards students in grades K-2. We are happy to have educated 1,112 students!

The deadline to apply for the OCB Scholarship was Friday, April 28. OCB made ONE last push for applicants to apply to the scholarship with messages on social media, message centers and in bank lobbies.

During the Power of ONE Community Week, OCB announced the upcoming OCB Shred Fest at its Oregon location on Saturday, June 3 from 8-10 AM. We are proud provide this free service to our community and kick off our Hygiene Drive to support Porchlight. This two-week drive will kick off on Saturday, June 3 and run through Saturday, June 17 at all of our bank locations. We will be collecting travel/individual size soaps, shampoos, lotions, and personal hygiene products.

OCB is honored to partner with WayForward Resources formerly known as Middleton Outreach Ministry in Middleton, WI. We celebrated our partnership with WayForward Resources with a video highlighting our past six-month volunteer commitment and announced the extension of our partnership for an additional six months. Additionally, colleagues volunteered at ONE of our volunteer opportunities with WayForward Resources.

OCB hosted this event in honor of Wisconsin Bankers Association’s annual Power of Community Week. This week is dedicated to showing the collective support community banks provide to businesses and their communities.

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One Community Bank is one of the largest community banks in south central Wisconsin. The locally owned bank has 10 bank locations and $1.8 billion in assets. It provides both personal and business
banking solutions, with an intense focus on serving clients, supporting colleagues, and investing in its
communities. Five years in a row named one of Madison’s best places to work, One Community Bank
serves the communities of Oregon, McFarland, Waunakee, Stoughton, Sun Prairie, Middleton, Adams,
Oxford, and Grand Marsh.