Quality Report

2025

We’re excited to share the 2025 Wisconsin Hospitals Quality Snapshot, a concise look at how hospitals and health systems across the state are advancing care through data, collaboration and innovation. This year’s snapshot reflects the collective efforts driving measurable improvements in patient outcomes, safety and community health. From rural hospitals to urban medical centers, Wisconsin continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to delivering high quality care for every patient, every day, reinforcing its reputation for excellence in health care across the region.

Top-performing state

Top-performing state for overall health system performance rankings for women and health care quality and prevention according to the Commonwealth Fund¹

Ranks 1st

High discharge information scores by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS)²
- >89% for the past 4 years

Ranks 2nd

For overall performance, access and affordability, prevention and treatment, avoidable hospital use and cost, and healthy lives (Great Lakes Region) by the Commonwealth Fund³

Ranks 5th

Nationally for total dollars earned through CMS’ Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) program⁴
- 80% of WI hospitals received incentive payments (compared to 49% nationally)

Ranks 6th

Percentage of hospitals earning four- or five-star according to CMS Star Ratings⁵
- 65% of WI hospitals received four- or five-star ratings vs. 36% nationally
- Highest percentage among states with 50+ hospitals

Footnotes

1 - 2024 State Scorecard on Women’s Health and Reproductive Care, Commonwealth Fund

2 - CMS’ HCAHPS

3 - 2025 Scorecard on State Health System Performance scorecard, Commonwealth Fund

4 - CMS’ VBP program

5 - Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings, CMS

Across Wisconsin, hospitals are implementing a wide range of initiatives to enhance care delivery and patient outcomes. These include expanding sepsis early recognition protocols, reducing hospital-acquired infections through targeted prevention strategies, improving stroke care through faster response times and coordinated treatment pathways and advancing workforce wellbeing. These efforts reflect the diverse and proactive approaches Wisconsin hospitals are taking to elevate quality across all settings.

To drive meaningful improvement, hospitals regularly analyze performance data from WHA’s CheckPoint website alongside their own internal sources. This proactive approach helps surface opportunities to enhance care, guide strategic decision-making and support teams in delivering the best possible outcomes. By turning data into action, Wisconsin hospitals continue to strengthen patient care and foster a culture of learning and excellence.

CheckPoint

CheckPoint delivers reliable reports designed to support health care decisions and assist Wisconsin hospitals with quality improvement. The categories of the measures collected are in the graphic above.

Visit the CheckPoint Website

Opioid and Substance Misuse

The Rural Health and Substance Use Clinical Support (RHeSUS) program aims to improve access to treatment in rural Wisconsin by expanding education and support for health care professionals treating those who struggle with opioid and other substance use disorders.

Visit the RHeSUS Website

Health Care Quality Showcase

The Health Care Quality Poster Showcase is held annually in the Capitol Rotunda, featuring hospitals’ quality and patient safety improvement efforts.

Visit the Advocacy Day Homepage

Quality Residency

Taught by field experts, this program equips new quality leaders with the essential skills to succeed and provides experienced leaders with timely insights into the evolving landscape of health care quality and patient safety.

Visit the Quality Residency Homepage

Stroke

WHA collaborates with the Department of Health Services (DHS) and the Wisconsin Coverdell Stroke Program to advance equity and quality in stroke prevention and care, particularly for high-risk individuals.

Visit the DHS Website

Superior Health Quality Alliance

WHA participates in this collaborative of health care quality improvement organizations working to improve health and health care quality for Medicare beneficiaries across the Great Lakes and Northeast regions of the United States.

Visit the Superior Health Quality Alliance Website

Wisconsin Office of Rural Health

Finance Workshop - Workshop to provide insight into the current health care finance climate.
Swing Bed Program - Assists critical access hospitals (CAH) in initiating or expanding their Swing Bed programs.
The MOVIN™ Program - Aims to reduce fall risk of CAH inpatients by training staff to safely increase movement during inpatient stays.
Cybersecurity Needs Assessment – WHA works with Microsoft to provide a cybersecurity assessment.

Visit the WORH Website

Wisconsin Dental Pain Protocol

Emergency departments are teaming up with local dentists to better treat non-traumatic dental pain—helping patients get the care they need while reducing the use of opioids.

Visit the Wisconsin Dental Pain Protocol Website

Wisconsin Caring for Caregivers Wellbeing

The Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment awarded a grant to WHA for leading an initiative that improves the well being of health care and public health workers in partnership with the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation.

Visit the Caring for Caregivers Homepage

Hospital Quality Improvement Projects

The following highlights a range of stories submitted by hospitals across Wisconsin, each offering a unique example of how teams are advancing quality and patient safety. These contributions may include participants in WHA’s Excellence in Quality and Patient Safety awards, presentations at the Wisconsin Health Care Quality Showcase in the Capitol rotunda during Advocacy Day or simply from those with a desire to share meaningful work with peers across the state. Together, these stories reflect the shared commitment to learning, collaboration and continuous improvement across our state.