Category: Health

Had Vetens chosen a hospital that did not contract with her insurer, the family could have been reimbursed 60 percent, or about $12,000 of the money paid, since her insurance pays a portion of out-of-network care.But since Consolidated Health Plans has a contract with the University of Wisconsin Hospital, it said it would not reimburse anything at all. Contracts between insurers and providers discourage such sideline cash transactions, since hospitals can make more money when patients use insurance, as evidenced by Vetens’ bill.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison and UW Health launched an addiction hotline for primary-care physicians and other health care providers to help their patients with addictions.

The UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, in conjunction with UW Health, debuted the UW Addiction Consultation Hotline earlier this month.

Fruits like bruised apples, overripe bananas, or citrus like oranges and clementines that have dried up can be used in various recipes, for example, from the “Amazing Waste Cookbook” (PDF) created by the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Genetic testing of embryos “is being accepted more and implemented more,” said Dr. Christina Broadwell, medical director of Generations, UW Health’s fertility clinic.

By the time Parkinson’s disease patients are diagnosed — typically based on the tremors and motor-control symptoms most associated with the disease — about 60 percent of them also have serious damage to the heart’s connections to the sympathetic nervous system. When healthy, those nerves spur the heart to accelerate its pumping to match quick changes in activity and blood pressure.”This neural degeneration in the heart means patients’ bodies are less prepared to respond to stress and to simple changes like standing up,” says Marina Emborg, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of medical physics and Parkinson’s researcher at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center. “They have increased risk for fatigue, fainting and falling that can cause injury and complicate other symptoms of the disease.”

James Conway is frustrated. He’s a professor of pediatrics, medical director for immunization services, and chair of the immunization program and planning committee at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. That’s a long way of saying his career is all about making sure children are immunized properly, so they can become healthy adults.

The Ho-Chunk Nation Education Department helped him with schooling arrangements and assistance, and he received scholarships to help pay tuition.

One year ago, a Milton police officer donated her kidney to a 9-year-old boy she had never met.

She has raised nearly $700,000, including about $430,000 for the UW Carbone Cancer Center in Madison.

Mental health is a nuanced, deeply personal and often avoided subject, but the resolve of UW-Madison students and faculty is strong as they fight to eliminate stigma and raise awareness.

Dozens of researchers from around the country are at UW-Madison this week for a “boot camp” to help increase the number of minority researchers investigating health disparities and health equity.

“By the time a UW-Madison student will graduate, at least one in ten will have at least considered suicide,” Conlin Bass said.

Former Badgers star gives back to UW athletes.

A 10-year old miniature donkey has quite the story to tell. Ferguson is making history for University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine.

A new building going up at UW Health’s clinical and research complex on Madison’s West Side will be home to an expanded focus on two hot fields: genetic testing and treatments tailored to the genetic makeup of patients or their disease.

A new building is expected to bring a new vision of recreation and wellness to the UW-Madison campus.

In receiving two teaspoons of her souped-up cells on May 11, Makena was getting CAR T-cell therapy, one of the most promising new immunotherapies for cancer. She was just the second patient to get the customized treatment in Wisconsin since it was approved last year. UW Health is the only place providing it in the state.

It may be months before a cause is determined for the medical helicopter crash that killed three crew members in northern Wisconsin.