WHA has been both a pioneer and visionary in publicly reporting hospital quality and safety information through its flagship site,
CheckPoint.
In 2003, WHA’s Board of Directors accepted a recommendation from the WHA Task Force on Quality and Accountability for WHA “to collect and publicly report on the quality of care in hospitals,” establishing WHA as a national leader. The program began with ten clinical measures and five measures of progress towards safety goals, with the expectation that additional measures would be added over time. From its inception, hospital participation was voluntary.
The WHA Measures Team met for the first time on May 5, 2003, and included representatives from member hospitals, a variety of stakeholders, and WHA staff. The Measures Team is the clinical, analytical group that works on the detailed, operational components of the measures. A key goal of the Team is to determine what kind of information consumers want and need related to the quality of care provided within hospitals. To this day, the WHA Measures Team continues to focus in this goal.
The earliest iteration of the website provided consumers and health care purchasers reliable and useful information, using strict standards for the selection of quality measures and the display of results. Over the next years, WHA added measures. Several measures have now met the Statewide Achievement criteria set by the program (average of all reporting hospitals is 95 percent or higher for at least two reporting periods), which has been highlighted on the website.
In 2016, CheckPoint was updated in both content and functionality, and grew to include over 50 clinical quality measures. The website became more automated, relieving data entry burden for hospital users, and shifted its measurement approach to include fewer “process” measures and more “outcome” measures. Star ratings were calculated and added to the website to make it easier for consumers to understand how a hospital compared to others in the state for many of the measures.
In September 2020,
CheckPoint was again updated with sweeping changes to create a simplified look and feel. The 128 hospitals reporting to CheckPoint provide care to more than 99% of the state’s patient population. Updated designs make it easier to view a complete list of hospital measures, compare hospital performance to state and national benchmarks, and understand the importance of the included measures.
“CheckPoint continues to be a valuable tool for hospitals, clinicians, payors and the public,” said WHA President and CEO Eric Borgerding. “CheckPoint’s vision from 20 years ago is still relevant today, and positions Wisconsin to maintain its reputation for high-quality health care.”
Visit the CheckPoint website.