Quality Advisor

2025 Hospital Quality Needs Assessment

As the WHA Quality team works to provide programs and services that best meet your needs, we would first like your feedback to this short, four-question survey. The information you share in this Hospital Quality Needs Assessment survey will help guide us as we design future initiatives and offerings. We appreciate your feedback!

WHA Workplace Violence Prevention Webinar Series Highlights Collaborative Hospital Strategies

The Wisconsin Hospital Association recently hosted a three-part webinar series, “Preventing Violence, Promoting Resilience: Hospital-Based Behavioral Safety Interventions,” featuring innovative approaches from three Wisconsin hospitals to address workplace violence.

Mayo Clinic Health System – Eau Claire shared how its team used Lean Six Sigma’s DMAIC framework and shared governance to redesign behavioral safety systems, reduce physical assaults and lower institutional costs. Mayo Clinic - Eau Claire's webinar recording - Designing Safer Systems: Behavioral Safety Planning through DMAIC and Shared Governance.

Mercyhealth Hospital and Trauma Center – Janesville presented on a new violence risk screening tool and enhanced documentation process, empowering staff with early interventions and improving security coordination. Mercyhealth Janesville's webinar recording - Reducing Workplace Violence Through Violence Risk Screening and Meaningful Interventions.

ThedaCare outlined its collaborative workplace violence prevention program, emphasizing team member preparation and cross-departmental communication to build a proactive safety culture. [No recording link available.]

Our goal is to equip you with actionable insights and resources to strengthen your organization’s culture of safety and support the well-being of your teams. These sessions underscored that preventing workplace violence is not only about protecting staff but safeguarding the quality of care, maintaining trust and fostering a safe, resilient environment where patients and health care teams can thrive. This series was designed to support hospitals and health systems in addressing the growing challenges of workplace violence, sharing evidence-based strategies, practical tools and real-world examples.

WHA Financial Workshop Held August 8

On August 8, the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) hosted a Financial Workshop at the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative (RWHC), drawing participants from hospitals in rural Wisconsin. The event focused on pressing topics such as state and federal regulatory updates, compliance requirements, price transparency and the shifting landscape of health care finance.

Featured speakers included Joe Wisniewski, Associate Vice President of Channel Partnerships & Government Affairs, Turquoise Health; Paul Traczek, CPA and Health Care Partner, Wipfli; Andrew McCabe, CPA and Senior Manager, Wipfli; and Jon Hoelter, WHA Vice President of Federal & State Relations. Each presenter shared valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities facing rural health care providers.

Funded by the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health (WORH), a WHA corporate member, the workshop provided a valuable platform for peer networking and knowledge exchange. Attendees gained timely insights into evolving compliance standards and had the opportunity to exchange strategies with peers facing similar challenges.

The workshop underscored WHA’s commitment to supporting rural health providers through education and collaboration, equipping attendees with actionable insights to navigate today’s complex financial landscape.

2026 IPPS Final Rule and Analysis Overview Webinar

The FFY 2026 Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) Final Rule Analysis is intended to show providers how Medicare inpatient fee-for-service (FFS) payments will change from FFY 2025 to FFY 2026 based on the policies set forth in the FFY 2026 IPPS final rule.

There will be a national webinar for hospitals to more fully understand what is covered in the FFY 2026 IPPS final rule and the analysis. Registration for the zoom webinar is required, and the specifics are below:

• Wednesday, September 3, 2025, 1 - 2 p.m.
• Registration is required using this link.

2026 Outpatient Rule Contains Concerning Site-Neutral & 340B Provisions

Last month the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its annual proposed update to the outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) payments to hospitals with an overall 2.4% payment increase.

The proposed rule also contains significant updates to a number of policies, including:

• Site-neutral payments
• 340B
• Price Transparency
• Phasing out the Inpatient Only list
• Updates to Hospital Quality programs

All proposed changes can be found in the linked summary. 

AHRQ Offers Safety Program for Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection Prevention

The AHRQ Safety Program for Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) Prevention, led by National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins University, is recruiting for a new cohort, the Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI) cohort. This program is a multi-year effort where we will work with hospitals across the country to reduce HAI rates.

This free nine-month program includes presentations about evidence-based CAUTI prevention strategies and enhancing teamwork and communication around HAI prevention. Participation in this AHRQ program will provide hospital units with technical assistance, coaching, webinars and tools to support their infection prevention programs. The program will offer continuing education credits at no charge for participants.

AHRQ will host a series of informational webinars where hospitals can obtain more information and ask questions about the program. See program flier for more information.

AHA Launches New Hub on Reducing Disparities in Health Outcomes

The American Hospital Association (AHA) has launched a new webpage, Reducing Disparities in Health Outcomes, featuring new and familiar resources for members and their communities. As part of a larger strategy to help address health disparities, this page will be a hub for actionable resources and tools to assist hospitals and health systems on their journeys to transform care and improve health outcomes for all. Learn more here.