Quality Advisor

Exciting Highlights from the 2025 WHA Quality and Patient Safety Award Celebration!

On February 27, 2025, WHA hosted the second annual Quality and Patient Safety Award Celebration Dinner in Madison, honoring the outstanding achievements of Wisconsin's hospitals in health care excellence.

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, both internal and external, who evaluated their innovative and impactful quality stories, as well as their top performance scores in their respective categories.

2025 Hospitals Awarded this year:

• HealthPartners Collaboration – Amery Hospital & Clinic, Hudson Hospital & Clinic, and Westfields Hospital & Clinic for Swing Bed Optimization (Critical Access Hospital 1-25 Bed Category)
• Aspirus Stevens Point Hospital for Improving Mortality Index (General Medical Surgical Hospital 26-99 Bed Category)
• Aurora Medical Center-Summit for Age-Friendly 4Ms Implementation – Improving Care and Patient Experience for Older Adults (General Medical Surgical Hospital 100+ Bed Category)
• UW Health Rehabilitation Hospital for Neurological Physical Therapy Program (Specialty Hospital Category)

Honorable Mentions:

Critical Access Hospital 1-25 Bed Category:

• River Falls Area Hospital for Safety First: Enhancing Patient and Staff Safety Through Tiered Huddles
• Burnett Medical Center for Always Ready Rounding: Enhancing Patient Safety and Survey Preparedness

General Medical Surgical Hospital 26-99 Bed Category:

• Froedtert Holy Family Memorial for Capitalizing on Evidence-Based Practice to Reduce the Three C's (CLABSI, CAUTI, CDIFF)
• Aurora Medical Center - Washington County for Enhancing Older Adult Care: Reducing Readmissions and Improving Patient Satisfaction

General Medical Surgical Hospital 100+ Bed Category:

• Aurora Medical Center-Grafton for Enhancing 4Ms Care for Older Adults on Med Surg 3
• Ascension SE Wisconsin Hospital-St. Joseph Campus for Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Management: Reducing Readmissions by 20%
• Bellin Hospital for Initiating Compassion Transition Huddles to Decrease Readmissions

Congratulations to all award winners, honorable mentions, and nominees for their remarkable contributions to health care improvement!

Patient Safety Awareness Week is March 9 - 15!

What better time than during Patient Safety Awareness Week to also announce a joint project between WHA and ECRI. Join WHA and ECRI & The Just Culture Company for an introductory webinar April 22 to learn about engaging in a webinar series and assessment to assist in satisfying elements of the new Patient Safety Structural Measure (PSSM), Improving Healthcare Worker Wellness and Resilience and Activating Patients as Partners in Care and Safety. See Quality Events to register.

In recognition of Patient Safety Awareness Week, it’s encouraging to see the progress Wisconsin hospitals have made in improving patient outcomes. Data from CheckPoint shows continued advancements in various safety metrics, highlighting the continued commitment to better care and patient safety.

CMS Star Ratings to be Publicly Released in April, Data Review Available Now

On February 13, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has made available the April 2025 Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating Hospital-Specific Reports (HSRs) in the Hospital Quality Reporting (HQR) system. The April 2025 Overall Star Ratings were calculated using the measure data from the October 2024 refresh.

Hospitals have 30 days to review their reports before public reporting. The April 2025 preview period will occur from February 13, 2025, through March 14, 2025, for hospitals to preview their Overall Star Ratings data that will be publicly reported in April 2025. The preview period is not a Review and Corrections period, during which hospitals can resubmit corrected data.

For April 2025, the Measure Detail Overall Star Rating Hospital-Specific Reports (HSRs) are now available to download in either PDF and/or CSV formats. You can access your Overall Star Rating HSRs directly from the Hospital Quality Reporting (HQR) system. Please review the HSR User Guide for more information.

If you have any questions on interpreting your HSR’s, please contact Nadine Allen.

Advocacy Day is April 9

Advocacy Day is five weeks away and is a fantastic opportunity for WHA members to engage with policymakers, share their stories and advocate for important health care issues. There is no cost to attend Advocacy Day, but pre-registration is required.

Attendees will hear from a variety of influential speakers, including a fireside chat with Green Bay Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur and WHA President and CEO Eric Borgerding. During this session, LaFleur and Borgerding will discuss the importance of leadership in ever-changing environments. They will also share insights on guiding diverse teams in dynamic organizations.

If you have any questions, please email Nadine Allen. We hope to see you all there!

WHA Health Care Quality Showcase is April 9

The Health Care Quality Showcase is an excellent opportunity to highlight and promote the innovative quality improvement efforts of Wisconsin hospitals.

Join us on April 9, 2025, from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. in the Capitol Rotunda and learn about the impactful work being done at hospitals across Wisconsin to enhance patient safety and improve care. This event provides a platform to engage with elected officials, Advocacy Day attendees and the public, helping to raise awareness of the significant strides hospitals are making in delivering high-quality, safe care.

If you have questions, please contact Nadine Allen or Marcia Egle.