At GHC-SCW, we are not like typical health care providers. We are a non-profit health care Cooperative, which means we focus on our members’ health and well-being, not on making money for shareholders.

Why Cooperative Health Care is Special

We follow key Cooperative principles like member control, member participation and caring for our community. As a GHC-SCW member-owner, you are more than a patient; you help make decisions about your health care. Moreover, your input helps us create the best policies and services for our community. This approach is what defines us as a leader in Cooperative health care.

Your Role as a Member

Your involvement is important. By giving feedback, filling out surveys and joining events, such as our annual meeting, you help shape our services. Consequently, this keeps us focused on meeting your needs.

The Annual Election

Each year, members vote for our Board of Directors and the Nominations Committee. These groups guide GHC-SCW and make sure we stick to our Cooperative’s values.

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors champions the needs and aspirations of GHC-SCW members. They guide the Cooperative’s direction, manage its affairs, strategize for long-term objectives and explore new ways to serve member-owners. Furthermore, their leadership is crucial in ethical decision-making, accountability for the Cooperative’s activities and upholding legal responsibilities, ensuring that GHC-SCW remains true to its mission.

Nominations Committee

The Nominations Committee is key to selecting Board candidates and handling the outreach, evaluation and endorsement of nominees. This committee ensures that GHC-SCW’s Board reflects the diverse membership and upholds the Cooperative values, playing a critical role in governance. In addition, members of the committee gain deep insights into governance, connect with a wide network and significantly influence GHC-SCW’s future leadership.

Why Your Vote Matters

Your vote is a powerful way to make a difference. By learning about the issues, knowing the candidates and voting, you help keep our Cooperative strong and focused on your needs. Therefore, when members are active, GHC-SCW is better able to meet the changing health care needs of our community.

Be a Part of Our Cooperative Health Care

Every member’s voice and vote are key to guiding GHC-SCW toward a future with quality health care that matches your values and needs. Thus, we encourage you to take an active role, not just as a member, but as an owner and decision-maker in our journey to better health care.

In short, GHC-SCW’s Cooperative model lets you, our members, shape the future of your health care. Consequently, your involvement ensures we stay focused on what’s most important—your health and well-being. Join us in making a difference and guiding GHC-SCW to better serve our community.

During COVID-19, it can be hard to prioritize wellness. The CDC suggests that employers implement a worksite wellness program for a potential to “increase employees’ productivity, reduce absenteeism, and increase morale”.  This can be difficult to facilitate if your employees are primarily working from home due to COVID-19. GHC-SCW Physical Therapist Gina Droessler, PTA, CSCI, CPI has many suggestions that can help employees implement movement breaks while working at home.     

What are some fun ideas or suggestions to get employees moving at home?

Offer a virtual exercise class during lunch hour or during the 2pm slump when employees can begin to feel tired. Implementing movement challenges among departments where employees can track their steps and win prizes. Some prize ideas could be digital gift cards, subscription to a magazine or online fitness program, earned half-days, or unique company swag!  Finally, there are many great free workout routine playlists on YouTube that can be emailed out to employees as an option for them to complete at home. 

Why is it important for employees to move during the workday and how will this make them better suited to do their jobs?

Healthy employees are usually happier and more productive which is optimal for everyone! Regular movement during the workday promotes increased energy which can lead to more productivity and less time missed from work. 

Are there any at home items that employers could provide to help employees minimize potential back pain or other body aches?

There are some small changes that employers can provide that could make a big difference for employee wellness. Offer an at-home workstation ball mouse instead of digital to better support hand alignment. A lumbar support can be easily made by rolling a towel up and securing it with rubber bands or stuffing it in a nylon. Set the towel in the back of a desk chair to support the low back arch. Shorter employees can be provided with a small step stool to bring alignment to the knees. Employees should never sit with dangling, unsupported legs for long periods of time. 

Click HERE to learn more about PT/OT at GHC-SCW or click HERE to get an insurance coverage quote!

What’s the difference between a preventive physical and an office visit, and can I be charged for both in the same visit?

At first glance, a physical and an office visit may seem like the same thing…

BUT, there is a difference. It is important to understand the differences between the two, because it may affect your costs.

Here are the main differences:

 A Preventive Physical is:

• A thorough review of your general health and well-being
• Your provider will complete a physical exam and make recommendations regarding your general health that usually focus around diet, exercise or disease screenings and well-being
• Typically, GHC covers preventive physicals at no charge. But you should refer to your Summary of Benefits or Certificate for exact benefit coverage.

 An Office Visit is:

• An appointment to discuss specific, new or existing health problems.
• Your provider may then prescribe medication, order additional tests like lab work or X-rays, refer you to a specialist or discuss other treatment options.
• Depending on your benefits, an office visit usually results in additional costs to you.

Based on the definitions above, you may be wondering if the same appointment can be considered both a physical and an office visit? The answer is, yes.

On occasion, one appointment can meet the requirements for both types of visits. If this is the case, your provider will submit a charge for both a preventive physical and an office visit. If your preventive physical includes consultation or treatment

for a specific condition, your provider is legally required to document additional medical services on your bill.

So, what does this mean for you?

While combining a preventive physical and an office visit will save you time by eliminating an extra appointment, it may also affect your costs. Providers must bill your visit based on both the reason you initially scheduled the appointment and what is done during the appointment. For this reason, it’s important to remember that when you see your provider for a physical, something more than a general evaluation may result in unanticipated out of pocket costs for you based on your benefit plan.

We hope this article has helped to clarify the difference between physicals and office visits. As always, if you have further questions about your insurance coverage or costs you can review your Summary of Benefits and Coverage by clicking here. You can also call our Member Services team Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. at (608) 828-4853.

Did you know… it is important to receive your flu shot not only because it protects you from the flu, but because it protects the people around you who may be more vulnerable to serious flu illness!

Flu Facts:

• Flu shots are the most effective way to prevent influenza and its complications.
• Everyone over 6 months old needs a flu shot to prevent flu illnesses, missed work and school days, medical visits and hospitalizations.
• Children between 6 months and 8 years may need two doses of the flu vaccine, given at least four weeks apart, to be fully protected. Check with your child’s health care provider.
• Special flu vaccines are available for people over age 65 to offer better flu protection.
• Infants younger than six months old are too young to get vaccinated. Your shot will help protect them.
• Flu activity usually peaks between January and March and can last until May.
• By getting vaccinated in the fall you will be protected whenever flu activity begins.
• There are many types of the flu virus that occur each flu season. You can get flu more than once due to the various viruses.
• The flu vaccine protects against several different flu viruses, providing protection all season long.

Flu viruses can change from season to season and immunity declines over time so it is important to get vaccinated each year!

Group Health Cooperative is happy to be partnering with the Madison Mallards in 2018! With our sponsorship comes many exciting things not only for Group Health Cooperative, but for the entire Madison Community!

Salute to Madison Night at the Madison Mallards – July 11^th, 2018

On July 11^th, the Madison Mallards players will be wearing one-of-a-kind jerseys that focus on the great city we live in, Madison. After the game, these jerseys will be auctioned off and all the money raised will be donated to Project Home.

Project Home is a Madison based non-profit that’s mission is to improve the quality and affordability of housing for low-to-moderate income residents in Dane and Green County, WI. They perform home repairs, accessibility modifications and energy improvements to make homes healthier, safer and to ease the financial burden of high energy bills for people who are struggling financially.

There will also be an opportunity for children and adults to pay $1 for a coloring page to draw what “Home Means to Them”. The money raised from this will also be donated to Project Home, and the individual will be entered into a drawing to win a special prize!

So come out and join us on July 11^th to salute the great city of Madison and all the hard work Project Home does to make it a better place to live.

Goat Yoga at the Madison Mallards – July 17^th, 2018 starting at 5:30

Have you ever heard of Goat Yoga?! Well now is your chance to find out what it is all about:

GHC-SCW will be sponsoring Goat Yoga in the outfield of the Mallard’s stadium on July 17^th before the game! Participants will have the chance to do yoga alongside live goats, and the goats may even jump up on your back! How cool is that?!

Stay tuned if you would like to sign-up for this unique experience. There is only room for 100 participants!

GHC-SCW Project Home-Run

All season long, every time a Madison Mallards player hits a homerun, GHC-SCW will donate $100 to Project Home! Just another reason to cheer for your hometown team this summer!

 

Fewer things in life are more challenging than escaping your home country in search of a better life, let alone trying to navigate a new health care system. To help ease the burden, GHC-SCW created the Refugee Assistance Program in 2011. Through this program, our new neighbors receive hours of one-on-one assistance from GHC-SCW staff. The GHC-SCW staff serves as their advocates by setting up numerous appointments for care and follow-up care. GHC-SCW also partners with Lutheran Social Services and Jewish Social Services to help refugees establish roots here in our community. Lutheran Social Services and Jewish Social Services work directly with the refugee families for up to 3 years and help families with the following:

• Housing 

• Food

• Health Care

• Jobs

Assimilation to the U.S. culture GHC-SCW is grateful to see at least 100 refugees a year come through our program. The refugees speak many different languages including Swahili, Pashto, Dari and Arabic. We have helped refugees from a variety of countries including Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, Iraq, China and Algeria. At GHC-SCW, we believe that healthcare is a human right. We are here to help refugees however we can, because we are Better Together.

Written By: Dr. Mark Huth, Chief Executive Officer at GHC

Welcome to GHC-SCW’s new blog! Our blog will give us a unique opportunity to share news, updates and healthy living content, while also offering a place for us to interact with our members and the community. If you’re wondering what you can expect from the content you find on our blog, and how the information here differs from the information you may find on our website, read on.

Our blog will allow us to leverage social technologies to engage in two-way communication with our community and to take your feedback into consideration as we move through the ever-changing health care and insurance landscape. Here you’ll find patient stories, resources for members, local event updates as well as details on opportunities to engage with GHC-SCW. In addition, we’ll use the blog to share multimedia, such as videos, photo albums and more.

You’ll also find news articles penned by our very own providers and staff. The posts will cover a range of topics from “Screen Time and Your Child” to “5 Ways to Protect Your Skin from the Sun” – all designed to give you and your family the tools and tips you need to lead healthy lives.

As we continue to build our blog, we’ll also create health care and insurance-specific content so you can learn more about the latest news and research.

We look forward to growing with you as we embark on this new journey. Thanks for stopping by!