Two Rogers Physicians Selected for Best Doctors in America

Posted on 02/08/16 11:47:am

(Oconomowoc, Wis.) Michael Miller, MD, medical director of the Herrington Recovery Center and president of medical staff, and Jerry Halverson, MD, medical director of Rogers Memorial Hospital–Oconomowoc and FOCUS residential program for adults with mood disorders, have been nominated into the Best Doctors in America List for 2015-2016—an honor given to only 5% of our nation’s doctors.

Founded in 1989, the list is made up of a peer-selected network of the nation’s leading healthcare professionals. Together, the professionals cover over 450 specialties and subspecialties. Best Doctors in America also reviews their members’ medical diagnoses and connects them with doctors in the network, based on discipline.

Dr. Halverson is the current president of the Wisconsin Medical Society and is the past president of the Wisconsin Psychiatric Association (WPA). He has also held various leadership positions with national and local professional organizations and has been an active mental health advocate—speaking to academic, legislative and community audiences. 

“Dr. Halverson epitomizes dedication to high standards of patient-centered care as a practitioner caring for individual patients and as an advocate in leadership positions within organized medical societies where he seeks to set priorities and effect policy change,” says Suzanne Harrison, vice president of operations at Rogers Memorial Hospital–Oconomowoc. “He is passionate about quality care and the use of evidence-based practices to achieve the best possible outcomes for those patients he treats and for the overall public health.  Dr. Halverson has made significant contributions in his various roles and, as a mid-career physician, we will be fortunate to benefit from his leadership skills for many years to come.”

Dr. Miller has held numerous leadership positions among various organizations dedicated to the advancement of addiction medicine. While serving as president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s (ASAM), his advocacy efforts contributed to Congress’ full inclusion of addiction services in the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, and in ASAM’s assistance in the creation of the American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM) to certify physicians in addiction medicine. He led the ASAM Action Groups which developed the ASAM Definition of Addiction, ASAM’s Standards of Care for Addiction Specialist Physicians, and the companion document, Performance Measures for Addiction Specialist Physicians.

More recently, Dr. Miller was managing editor for the latest edition of The ASAM Criteria, and coordinated the drafting of ASAM’s updated policy on marijuana, which is informing the nationwide dialogue on legalization and decriminalization from a medical and public health perspective. Dr. Miller is a director of ABAM and of the Addiction Medicine Foundation, which accredits fellowships to train addiction specialist physicians, and he has been elected to a seat on the Council on Science and Public Health of the American Medical Association (AMA). In these national roles, and in speaking to local groups and with patients and families, he has been a leader in advancing appreciation of addiction as a treatable brain disease. He has been selected for inclusion in Best Doctors since 2007.

“Dr. Miller works tirelessly to better the quality of care received by patients suffering from substance use disorders, both in his own clinical practice and in his involvement with organized medicine groups in Wisconsin and nationally,” says Harrison. “He has been recognized for his clinical expertise but, equally as important, for his compassion and dedication to a group of patients who are very frequently marginalized in our society and our healthcare system.  He is most deserving of this honor that serves as a testament to his long professional career.”