Registration & Breakfast

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Welcome and Opening Keynote

Dr. Karen Wong, MD, MPH, MIDS, Chief Data Scientist at Epic

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Karen Wong, MD, MPH, MIDS, is Chief Data Scientist at Epic. A physician, epidemiologist, and data scientist, she helps shape data science strategy and research at the intersection of medicine, public health, and advanced analytics. Her work focuses on improving decision-making, developing and evaluating AI, and ensuring that innovation in healthcare is grounded in science, purpose, and equity. As an internal medicine physician and former CDC data science leader, she brings deep scientific and clinical expertise to advance the responsible use of data and AI in healthcare.

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Morning Break

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Breakout Session 1

Session 1.1

Wisconsin Medicaid: Unconventional History and Ongoing Enhancement

Wisconsin Medical Society and Wisconsin Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians

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Physicians in Wisconsin are deeply invested in the success of our Medicaid program in that it plays a significant role in the success of so many of our patients and practices. Wisconsin Medicaid has long been unique in terms of services covered, eligibility requirements, and physician payments. Recent federal policy will influence ongoing changes in many states, including ours, and the physicians of the Wisconsin Medical Society have recently formed a WisMed Medicaid Payment Task Force to have a voice in these changes.

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Session 1.2

The Wisconsin Trauma System: How It Works—and Why Advocacy Matters

Wisconsin Surgical Society

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Wisconsin’s trauma system is a critical yet often under-recognized component of statewide healthcare infrastructure. This session will provide a practical overview of how the Wisconsin trauma system is structured, how trauma centers are designated and maintained, and how state policy, funding, and advocacy directly affect access to timely, high-quality trauma care—particularly in rural and underserved regions.

Addressing the role of general surgeons in improving access to high quality operative obstetric care in rural communities.

Surgical Collaborative of Wisconsin

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​In rural Wisconsin, cesarean sections (C-sections) are performed by a diverse workforce, including OB/GYNs, family medicine physicians, and general surgeons. Rural labor and delivery units risk closure secondary to workforce shortages, threatening access to timely obstetric care. Thus, ensuring an adequate operative obstetrics workforce is essential for access to maternal health care. While OB/GYN and family medicine physicians receive formal training in C-sections, general surgeons often learn these skills through informal, piecemeal experiences. This session will highlight statewide efforts led by the Surgical Collaborative of Wisconsin (SCW) to develop multimodal educational programs for general surgeons, aiming to support their operative obstetrics practice and enhance the quality and safety of cesarean sections for women in rural Wisconsin.

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Lunch & Guest Speaker

Charles Franklin, Professor of Law and Public Policy and Director of the Marquette Law School Poll

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Charles Franklin is Professor of Law and Public Policy at Marquette Law School, where he has directed the Marquette Law School Poll since 2012. The Marquette Law School poll is ranked 2nd of over 500 pollsters nationally by Nate Silver and ranked 3rd by FiveThirtyEight.com, the only poll with a perfect 10 score for transparency in reporting methodology and results. Franklin was Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin Madison for 22 years before leaving to join the Marquette Law School in 2012. He is past president of the Society for Political Methodology and an elected Fellow of the Society. From 2002 to 2020 he was a member of the ABC News election night Decision Desk. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan.
 

Where Things Stand Now and the Outlook for the November Elections

As we look to the 2026 elections it is best to begin with a look back to the November 2025 elections, and to public opinion through the year. With that evidence we can put the coming election year in perspective and give some context to the forces likely to shape votes in the fall. 

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Legislative Panel

A panel of legislative leaders will present their views on policy and priorities in the upcoming legislative session. The panel to be moderated by Tim Stumm, Founder and Editor of Wisconsin Health News.

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Issue Advocacy and Education is a Year-round Activity

Campaign season is an important and uniquely valuable time for voters to meet candidates, and candidates to learn what’s important to their constituents. This session will provide an overview of the election season and share insight into how advocates can use this time to educate candidates on issues important to them.

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Afternoon Break

Breakout Session 2

Session 2.1

Aiming for Better: Conversations on Firearm Injury Prevention and Care

American College of Physicians, Wisconsin Chapter, Wisconsin Academy of Family Practice,

Wisconsin Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians

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This session will review strategies to identify people at risk of firearm injury; practical tools to begin conversations on firearms in daily patient care and community roles; and consensus strategies on firearm injury prevention. Death and injury by firearm are among the top causes of morbidity and premature mortality in the United States. Firearm injuries affect not only the injured person, but also their families and communities, creating enormous economic, social, and health harms. These harms are inequitably distributed, with larger burdens found in communities experiencing poverty, low resource availability, and higher rates of violence. Physicians are uniquely positioned to identify and help reduce risks and harms associated with firearms through patient care, education, and advocacy

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Session 2.2

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Women's Health in Wisconsin

Wisconsin Section, American Congress of Ob-Gyn

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From maternal mortality to physician flight, rural hospital closures to reproductive healthcare collapse: a critical examination of women's health in Wisconsin and what it means from the perspective of the physicians who serve them. Learn how politics and policy failures impact providers across all specialties, and what opportunities exist to reverse course.

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Reception

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