At Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin (GHC-SCW), we are dedicated to providing inclusive health care services that meet the diverse needs of our members. We understand that accessibility is a fundamental aspect of patient care, and we are committed to offering a range of language services and technological tools that ensure all individuals, regardless of language or communication barriers, receive the care they need. From translation services to visually impaired accessibility services to website accessibility, we strive to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all our members.
Language Services and Document Translation: At GHC-SCW, we work to ensure that reasonable steps are taken to provide meaningful accessibility to all services for members with limited English proficiency (LEP).
The use of qualified interpreters is required when communicating with members who have limited English proficiency. GHC-SCW provides on-site certified Medical and health care interpreters for Spanish, Hmong and Laotian-speaking members. Additionally, document translation services are available in all languages upon request.
As well as our staff interpreters, we contract with freelance interpreters to ensure our members have an in-person interpreter as often as possible. GHC-SCW contracts with five agencies to provide 24-hour telephone, in-person and video remote interpretation services in all languages our members and patients speak, including American Sign Language. These agencies include Language Line Solutions, also known as Pacific Interpreters, Alta Language Services, Propio, Professional Interpreting Enterprise (PIE) and Purple.
Video Visit Interpreters: GHC-SCW offers video visits with interpreters for more than 300 languages through GHCMyChartSM. Based on the patient’s preferred language, the interpreter can be requested on-demand or scheduled in advance for languages of lesser diffusion.
Hearing or Speech Impaired Accessibility Services: GHC-SCW members who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech difficulty may call our GHC-SCW clinics using WI Relay, by dialing 711 or calling (800) 947-3529 or (608) 828-4815. This relay service allows English and Spanish communications through text telephone/teletypewriter (TTY). The relay operator reads aloud the message a patient typed to the other party and types the other party’s spoken message and background sounds, if any, back to the patient.
GHC-SCW members may also call our GHC-SCW clinics using the P3 Mobile app by Purple Communications, which is a video relay service (VRS) app that allows members to communicate with hearing people through a video interpreter using American Sign Language on their smartphone or other devices. We also offer American Sign Language interpreter services for in-person appointments when requested.
iPads are available at each GHC-SCW clinic for video remote and audio interpreting via our Pacific Interpreters/Language Line Solutions, Alta and Purple partners.
Visually Impaired Accessibility Services: GHC-SCW understands that patients who have a visual impairment should have written information read to them. Our medical record software allows for permanent comments regarding preferences for auxiliary aids, and members can request their documents and correspondence in large font through our Member Services and Language Services Departments.
GHC-SCW Website Accessibility Tools: Recently, GHC-SCW redesigned our
member-facing website to provide a more user-friendly experience. This redesign prioritized ease of navigation, improved content organization and expanded accessibility for members. As part of these efforts, we launched a new online provider search tool, which offers significant enhancements to usability and functionality. The updated tool allows members to filter providers more effectively, ensuring they can quickly find the proper care based on the member’s specific needs.
To better serve our members with accessibility needs, the website features an integrated auto-translation tool, offering translated content in 12 languages. This tool ensures that those members can access information in their preferred language. Our website also allows any existing Spanish and Hmong-translated documents to be automatically linked. When members change the website to Spanish or Hmong, it will automatically display a PDF document if it’s already been translated. The website also allows visually impaired users to seamlessly adjust font size, enabling them to consume content better and easily navigate the site.
It is a priority for GHC-SCW to ensure our website meets the 508 accessibility standards, and these digital improvements reflect our ongoing commitment to improving member interactions with our digital properties, offering tools and resources that are modern, efficient and inclusive.
Meds on Cue Tool: This pharmacy services tool uses QR code technology to offer patient-friendly, prescription-specific medication education on demand in English and Spanish. The information won’t provide just written medication information but educational videos explaining usage, benefits and potential side effects. The program ensures members and patients understand how to take their medications safely and limit avoidable reactions, but it also helps GHC-SCW take steps to go green.
For more information, visit our website at Language Assistance – Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin
As a clinical pharmacist, every day is centered around ensuring patients receive the best possible care through safe and effective medication management. Unlike traditional pharmacists, who may spend their day filling prescriptions, clinical pharmacists are deeply involved in patient care teams, working closely with doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals to optimize treatment plans. Clinical Pharmacists spend more time meeting with patients and discussing their medication, building connections to better understand their patients and working very closely with Primary Care Providers. Each day is filled with opportunities to make a real difference in patients’ lives.
In this blog, we’ll take you through a typical day as a clinical pharmacist, offering a glimpse into the critical work behind the scenes in a clinic and pharmacy.
At GHC-SCW, Clinical Pharmacists and Retail Pharmacists rotate between roles. Retail Pharmacists are the people you’d typically see behind the pharmacy counter, filling prescriptions and having quick discussions with patients about their prescriptions. Clinical Pharmacists, on the other hand, meet directly with patients in a clinic setting.
Each day begins with a team huddle to discuss who is on staff that day, go through any changes, and ensure everyone is on the same page.
Then the day begins.
No day is the same for Clinical Pharmacists. Still, the work is consistently filled with responding to messages, reaching out to patients with new medications, scheduling appointments and meeting with patients face to face.
The heart of a clinical pharmacist’s role lies in these interactions—listening to patients and ensuring that the prescribed treatments are effective and safe. Appointments throughout the day consist of teaching patients how to use blood pressure monitors, Diabetes Focus Visits, appropriate monitoring and dosage of statin medications and educating patients about their medications.
Diabetes Focus Visits
These one-hour appointments are for patients with type 2 diabetes. This is where the clinical pharmacist ensures they get the preventative care they need, including regular exams, making any necessary lifestyle changes, educating patients on injectable medications, and teaching them how to use their glucose monitors. These visits are crucial to these patients and give them the one-on-one time they need to ask questions and get acquainted with their treatment plans.
GHC-SCW has been staffing Clinical Pharmacists for 10 years and was the first healthcare organization in the area to move Pharmacists to a clinical setting. The benefits have been significant, improving patient care with more time to educate patients on health care treatments such as hypertension and diabetes management. Having in-clinic pharmacists has also freed up access to Primary Care Providers, giving them more time to see patients for other healthcare appointments.
GHC-SCW has one Clinical Pharmacist staffed at each clinic location, Monday – Friday, 8:30-5:00, with one Pharmacy Tech supporting the Pharmacists.
Visit the Pharmacy page on our website for more information about our clinics, Pharmacists and to schedule an appointment.
We will implement holiday hours at our clinics and Administrative Building in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 20, 2025. Check out the upcoming holiday hours in the chart below:
Facility |
Monday, January 20 | Holiday Hours |
| GHC-SCW Urgent Care Clinic at Capitol Clinic | Open 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. |
| GHC-SCW Capitol Clinic Pharmacy | Open 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. |
| GHC-SCW Urgent Care Lab and Imaging | Open 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. |
All other GHC-SCW Clinics & Administrative Offices:
|
Closed |