Quality Advisor

2026 Excellence in Healthcare Quality & Patient Safety Award Winners

On February 4, 2026, WHA hosted the third annual award recognition dinner in Madison honoring outstanding achievements of four Wisconsin hospitals.

The WHA Excellence in Health Care Quality and Patient Safety Award honors hospitals committed to advancing health care through continuous improvement, innovation and exceptional quality performance, with a focus on enhancing patient outcomes and safety. Award recipients were selected by a council of health care quality experts who evaluated the innovative and impactful quality projects and selected top performers in four categories.

2026 Hospitals Awarded:

• Reedsburg Area Medical Center won for Improving Patient Safety: Through Reduction of Blood Culture Contamination (Critical Access Hospital 1-25 Bed Category)
• Aspirus Stevens Point Hospital won for Early Identification of C. difficile: Improving Safety Through Screening (General Medical Surgical Hospital 26-99 Bed Category)
• Children’s Wisconsin won for Lock it Up: A Collaborative Approach to Safe Gun and Medication Storage (General Medical Surgical Hospital 100+ Bed Category)
• Emplify Health by Bellin Behavioral Health won for Patient Safety and Restrictive Measures (Specialty Hospital Category)

We would also like to congratulate several additional hospitals that were acknowledged with Honorable Mention awards:

Critical Access Hospital 1-25 bed size category:

• River Falls Area Hospital for Breaking the Chain: A Multi-layered Defense Against Hospital-Acquired C.difficile
• Marshfield Medical Center - Park Falls for Optimizing Swing Beds to Reduce Readmissions

General Medical Surgical 26-99 bed size category:

• Mile Bluff Medical Center for Path to Safe Sleep
• SSM Health Monroe Hospital for Post-birth Alert Bands

General Medical Surgical 100+ bed size category:

• SSM Health St. Agnes Hospital for Daily Tiered Escalation Huddle Improvement
• SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital for Safety Behaviors in Action: Every Voice Matters

WHA's 2026 Advocacy Day - February 25!

Join us for WHA’s annual Advocacy Day on Wednesday, Feb. 25—a powerful opportunity for hospital employees, trustees and volunteers to make a visible impression in the state capitol. This event offers a chance to connect, learn and influence critical health care issues.

Fourth Annual Health Care Quality Showcase in Conjunction with WHA's Advocacy Day

The Health Care Quality Showcase is a wonderful opportunity to see firsthand the innovative efforts Wisconsin hospitals are making to enhance patient safety and improve care.

We invite you to attend the Health Care Quality Showcase the afternoon of Advocacy Day, from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. in the Capitol Rotunda and learn about the quality improvement initiatives happening at Wisconsin hospitals. This event highlights the dedicated work of hospital staff to improve patient safety and the quality of care across the state.

See list of hospitals participating in this year's poster showcase.

CDC Notes National Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) Decline; Wisconsin’s Latest CheckPoint Data Shows Even Stronger Local Gains

The CDC’s 2024 HAI Progress Report shows continued national declines in several key health care associated infections, including reductions in health care onset Clostridioides difficile, Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from 2023 to 2024. CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), the nation’s most widely used HAI surveillance system, is a shared resource for HAI prevention. More than 38,000 active hospitals, long-term care facilities and other health care facilities provide data to NHSN. In turn the data is used for national-and state-level analyses, including the HAI Progress Report, and for targeted prevention initiatives by health care facilities, states, regions, quality groups and national public health agencies, including CDC. The report reinforces the value of strong prevention practices and routine use of surveillance data to target areas for improvement. These national trends provide an important backdrop for understanding the progress occurring in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin continues to demonstrate strong leadership in HAI prevention, with performance that aligns closely with, and in some areas exceeds, the national improvements identified by the CDC. Through the Wisconsin Hospital Association’s CheckPoint website, one of the nation’s longest running voluntary hospital transparency initiatives, Wisconsin has provided clear, comparable quality and patient safety data for over 20 years. CheckPoint’s more recent reporting (covering 7/1/24–6/30/25) shows significant statewide progress, including a 23% reduction in CAUTI and a 22% reduction in CLABSI, along with continued improvement in MRSA. These results reflect Wisconsin’s sustained commitment to transparency, data driven decision making and continuous improvement in infection prevention practices.

Webinar Highlight: Implementing Age-Friendly Care at Aurora Wisconsin

On February 10, WHA hosted the second session of its two part Age-Friendly Webinar Series, highlighting Aurora Health’s implementation of the Age-Friendly Care 4Ms Framework.

In 2017, Aurora Wisconsin recognized the need to improve inpatient care for older adults and began introducing the nationally recommended Age-Friendly Health System 4Ms Framework across the organization. By 2019, senior and nursing leadership had embraced the value of this work and formally incorporated the 4Ms into the nursing strategic plan, establishing a systemwide commitment to enhancing care for older adults.

This webinar and panel discussion highlights Aurora’s firsthand experience implementing the Age-Friendly model. Topics include:

• Why Aurora chose the Age-Friendly journey
• How the initiative began and gained early traction
• Challenges encountered — and the solutions that worked
• Early wins and measurable successes
• Ongoing learnings and sustainability strategies
• Advice for organizations preparing to begin their own Age-Friendly work
• Tools and resources shared during implementation

This session offered practical insights from real system level experience to support organizations seeking to improve care for older adults through the Age-Friendly 4Ms framework.

Watch the full session and explore additional resources here.

The CMS Age-Friendly Hospital Measure Report Available

The CMS Age-Friendly Hospital Measure, newly incorporated into the Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program, represents an important step in driving adoption of evidence-based Age-Friendly care through federal hospital quality measurement. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Age-Friendly Hospital Measure is an attestation-based, structural measure that evaluates hospitals’ capacity, protocols and processes to deliver Age-Friendly care for adults aged 65 and older.

In 2026, all acute care hospitals in the United States – over 3,000 hospitals paid under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System – that fail to attest to the status of protocols across five core domains during calendar year 2025 (see Table 1) will receive a financial penalty. View the Advancing Age-Friendly Care through the CMS IQR Age-Friendly Hospital Measure: Insights and Recommended Strategies for Measure Evaluation from Quality Measure Experts report prepared for The John A. Hartford Foundation which presents insights from an expert panel convened to assess the measure’s potential to drive meaningful improvement in hospital care for older adults.

Caring for Wisconsin Caregivers    

Momentum Builds for Health Care Workforce Well-Being

The new year has seen major momentum in protecting health care workforce well-being. The Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Reauthorization Act has been signed into law, extending important mental health and burnout prevention programs through September 2030.

The Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation also released updated national maps showing continued progress in removing mental health related barriers for health care professionals. More than three million health workers now have a clearer path to support as national efforts to remove mental health barriers heightens. Across the country, numerous licensure boards, hospitals and care facilities have been recognized for ensuring that licensing and credentialing applications are free from stigmatizing language.

Wisconsin continues to advance this work. The Caring for Wisconsin’s Caregivers initiative launched Phase 1 of a multi- phase, multi-year effort encouraging hospitals and health systems to take the Well-being First Champion Challenge. The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services is actively reviewing and updating its processes to support health care workforce mental health. The Wisconsin Medical Examining Board, recognized as a Well-being First Champion in 2025, was the first board in the state, setting the pace for subsequent boards to complete this work. Many Wisconsin hospitals have also achieved or are currently pursuing the Well-being First Champion status.

To learn more or get involved, visit the Caring for Wisconsin’s Caregivers website, where you can explore how to become a Well-being First Champion, access tools and resources, stay updated through News and Spotlight features, connect with national experts, including Dr. Stef Simmons and the LBF Credentialing Team, during free office hours and keep up with upcoming events, next steps and more.

For questions, contact Nadine Allen, who can help connect you with the right resources.

Superior Health Quality Alliance    

Join WHA & Superior Health in Advancing the CMS 13 SOW Initiative

On Feb. 12, the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) and Superior Health Quality Alliance (Superior Health) hosted an informational webinar on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 13th Scope of Work, highlighting the quality improvement technical assistance available to Wisconsin hospitals.

WHA is proud to be a member of Superior Health, an organization dedicated to advancing health care quality and safety across our region. Superior Health serves as a vital link between the goals of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the unique needs of local communities. With decades of experience, Superior Health provides high-quality, hands-on quality improvement support to clinics, nursing homes and hospitals, helping them achieve measurable improvements for Medicare beneficiaries.

As the CMS Quality Innovation Network–Quality Improvement Organization (QIN QIO) for the Great Lakes Region, Superior Health offers no-cost technical assistance to providers in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Areas of support include chronic disease management, behavioral health integration, patient safety, care coordination and overall health care quality—fully aligned with CMS national priorities.

For those who were unable to attend or who would like more information:

• Webinar recording
• Webinar slides
• Superior Health Enrollment form

Please contact Jenny Pritchett with any questions.