2022 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 655 - Health care liability and injured patients and families compensation.
655.002 - Applicability.

655.002 Applicability.

(1) Mandatory participation. Except as provided in s. 655.003, this chapter applies to all of the following:

(a) A physician or a nurse anesthetist for whom this state is a principal place of practice and who practices his or her profession in this state more than 240 hours in a fiscal year.

(b) A physician or a nurse anesthetist for whom Michigan is a principal place of practice, if all of the following apply:

1. The physician or nurse anesthetist is a resident of this state.

2. The physician or nurse anesthetist practices his or her profession in this state or in Michigan or a combination of both more than 240 hours in a fiscal year.

3. The physician or nurse anesthetist performs more procedures in a Michigan hospital than in any other hospital. In this subdivision, “Michigan hospital" means a hospital located in Michigan that is an affiliate of a corporation organized under the laws of this state that maintains its principal office and a hospital in this state.

(c) A physician or nurse anesthetist who is exempt under s. 655.003 (1) or (3), but who practices his or her profession outside the scope of the exemption and who fulfills the requirements under par. (a) in relation to that practice outside the scope of the exemption. For a physician or a nurse anesthetist who is subject to this chapter under this paragraph, this chapter applies only to claims arising out of practice that is outside the scope of the exemption under s. 655.003 (1) or (3).

(d) A partnership comprised of physicians or nurse anesthetists and organized and operated in this state for the primary purpose of providing the medical services of physicians or nurse anesthetists.

(e) A corporation organized and operated in this state for the primary purpose of providing the medical services of physicians or nurse anesthetists.

(em) Any organization or enterprise not specified under par. (d) or (e) that is organized and operated in this state for the primary purpose of providing the medical services of physicians or nurse anesthetists.

(f) A cooperative health care association organized under s. 185.981 that operates nonprofit health care plans in this state and that directly provides services through salaried employees in its own facility.

(g) An ambulatory surgery center that operates in this state.

(h) A hospital, as defined in s. 50.33 (2) (a) and (c), that operates in this state.

(i) An entity operated in this state that is an affiliate of a hospital and that provides diagnosis or treatment of, or care for, patients of the hospital.

(j) A nursing home, as defined in s. 50.01 (3), whose operations are combined as a single entity with a hospital described in par. (h), whether or not the nursing home operations are physically separate from the hospital operations.

(2) Optional participation. All of the following may elect, in the manner designated by the commissioner by rule under s. 655.004, to be subject to this chapter:

(a) A physician or nurse anesthetist for whom this state is a principal place of practice but who practices his or her profession fewer than 241 hours in a fiscal year, for a fiscal year, or a portion of a fiscal year, during which he or she practices his or her profession.

(b) Except as provided in sub. (1) (b), a physician or nurse anesthetist for whom this state is not a principal place of practice, for a fiscal year, or a portion of a fiscal year, during which he or she practices his or her profession in this state. For a health care provider who elects to be subject to this chapter under this paragraph, this chapter applies only to claims arising out of practice that is in this state and that is outside the scope of an exemption under s. 655.003 (1) or (3).

(c) A graduate medical education program that operates in this state. For a graduate medical education program that elects to be subject to this chapter under this paragraph, this chapter applies only to claims arising out of practice that is in this state and that is outside the scope of an exemption under s. 655.003 (1) or (3).

History: 1987 a. 27; 1991 a. 214; 2005 a. 36, 51; 2009 a. 165.

In an action governed by this chapter, no claim may be brought by adult children for loss of society and companionship of an adult parent; s. 895.04 is inapplicable to actions under this chapter. Dziadosz v. Zirneski, 177 Wis. 2d 59, 501 N.W.2d 828 (Ct. App. 1993).

In an action governed by this chapter, no recovery may be had by a parent for the loss of society and companionship of an adult child. Estate of Wells v. Mount Sinai Medical Center, 183 Wis. 2d 667, 515 N.W.2d 705 (1994).

This chapter does not control all actions against health maintenance organizations (HMO). It applies only to negligent medical acts or decisions made in the course of rendering medical care. A bad faith tort action may be prosecuted against an HMO that has denied a request for coverage without a legal basis. McEvoy v. Group Health Cooperative of Eau Claire, 213 Wis. 2d 507, 570 N.W.2d 397 (1997), 96-0908.

This chapter governs medical practice claims against health care providers, and this section consists of an exclusive list of persons and entities whose activities as health care providers are subject to medical malpractice law. Estate of Oros v. Divine Savior Healthcare Inc., 2021 WI App 8, 395 Wis. 2d 676, 953 N.W.2d 914, 20-0202.

Sub. (1) plainly does not include a community-based residential facility (CBRF). In this case, the CBRF was one of three facilities that the defendant corporation operated on the same campus—the other two being a hospital and a nursing home. Although some of the corporation's operations—such as health care services provided by the hospital to its patients—would have been subject to this chapter under sub. (1) (h), that does not mean that all of the corporation's operations were—such as care provided by the CBRF. Thus, the corporation's operation of the CBRF did not constitute activities of a mandatory health care provider under sub. (1). It is immaterial that separate hospital or nursing home operations of the corporation constituted health care provider activities under this chapter. Estate of Oros v. Divine Savior Healthcare Inc., 2021 WI App 8, 395 Wis. 2d 676, 953 N.W.2d 914, 20-0202.