Project Summary:
The Wisconsin Medical Society—in partnership with the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Dental Association, the Wisconsin Nurses Association, the Wisconsin Academy of Physician Assistants and other professional membership organizations across Wisconsin—will establish the Wisconsin Healthcare Professional Services Program (WIHPSP). This initiative focuses on pressing workforce issues, like the shortage of licensed healthcare professionals (LHCPs), the rising demands of LHCPs, and the stress, burnout, and mental health challenges that LHCPs face. A statewide professional health services program will provide confidential resources with goals of supporting healthcare workforce well-being, retaining the healthcare workforce in Wisconsin, decreasing stigma in care seeking, and creating a more accessible and sustainable healthcare system.
The WIHPSP will provide confidential referral and monitoring services for LHCPs in Wisconsin who experience behavioral, psychiatric, addictive, or other potentially impairing conditions. The WIHPSP will coordinate detection, prevention, evaluation, treatment, and monitoring of LHCPs with these conditions. The tracking of individual participants’ progress will allow the WIHPSP to provide documentation verifying participants’ compliance with treatment and/or continuing care recommendations, allowing them to practice in Wisconsin with evidence of successful treatment. While initially offering program services to three major healthcare specialties (physicians, pharmacists, and dentists) in the first year of implementation, this initiative is designed to serve all LHCPs in Wisconsin within two years of initial program implementation. A phased approach will allow for tailored responses to the unique challenges faced by different professions as needed.
Community partners: Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin; Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin; Wisconsin Nurses Association; Wisconsin Dental Association; Wisconsin Academy of Physician Assistants; Federation of State Physician Health Programs