Quality Advisor

Healthcare Quality Week: Celebrating Wisconsin's Commitment to Quality and Patient Safety

Happy National Healthcare Quality Week!

This week, we join organizations across the country in recognizing the quality professionals, clinicians, leaders, data analysts, patient safety specialists and improvement teams whose work strengthens health care every day. Your commitment to measuring performance, advancing patient safety, improving outcomes and supporting the best possible care for patients and communities makes a meaningful difference across Wisconsin hospitals and health systems.

Established by the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) in 1985, this week serves as an annual opportunity to recognize how your efforts contribute to safer, high-value care. Advancing quality requires a shared commitment across every part of a health care organization, with contributions that drive continuous improvement, strengthen patient safety and improve outcomes for the patients and communities we serve.

As we celebrate Healthcare Quality Week, we are proud to highlight several initiatives that recognize excellence, showcase innovation and support the development of quality leaders across Wisconsin.

Recognizing Top Performers

WHA is pleased to recognize hospitals achieving exceptional performance through our CheckPoint program. Hospitals that rank among the top 10% statewide within a CheckPoint measure family earn a Top Performer designation, identified by a star on the CheckPoint website and recognized with a Top Performer certificate.

These recognitions reflect the dedication of hospital teams working every day to improve patient outcomes and strengthen the quality of care delivered in their communities. To help celebrate these accomplishments, WHA is providing a social media toolkit that hospitals can use to share their achievements with staff, boards and community stakeholders. Certificates will be emailed to site CEO’s and Quality Leaders next week.

Celebrating Excellence and Innovation

Healthcare Quality Week also marks the launch of the 2027 Excellence in Quality and Patient Safety Awards program.

This program has highlighted innovative and impactful work being done by Wisconsin hospitals and health systems to improve quality, enhance patient safety and advance health care delivery. Applications for the 2027 awards are open now and will be accepted through December 15, 2026. Winners across four award categories will be recognized during a special awards celebration in early 2027. To apply, submit this application form.

We encourage hospitals and health systems of all sizes to consider sharing their improvement stories and successful practices through the awards program. In addition, applicants and all quality improvement teams are encouraged to showcase their work at the Quality Poster Showcase held in conjunction with Advocacy Day on April 21, 2027. The showcase offers an opportunity to share lessons learned, celebrate successes and inspire improvement efforts across Wisconsin.

Supporting the Next Generation of Quality Leaders

Strong quality outcomes depend on strong quality leadership.

 To support both new and experienced professionals, WHA continues to expand resources designed to help quality leaders succeed in an increasingly complex health care environment. These resources include one-on-one onboarding sessions for new quality leaders, the Quality Residency Program and the newly updated Quality Leader Resource Playbook.

The playbook serves as a practical roadmap for quality professionals, bringing together information on quality reporting and payment programs, regulatory and accreditation requirements, patient safety, performance improvement, governance responsibilities and key resources from state and federal partners. Whether a leader is new to a quality role or looking for a consolidated reference guide, the playbook provides timely, practical support.

Quality leaders can also participate in WHA's Quality Residency Program, a comprehensive 10-month educational experience designed to build foundational knowledge and leadership skills. Individuals may participate in the full program or select individual sessions based on their professional development needs.

Continuing Professional Development

This year, Healthcare Quality Week also included complimentary educational webinars provided by WHA corporate members MedPro Group and COPIC. These sessions focused on risk management, just culture and building a culture of safety while providing continuing education credit opportunities for participants.

Recordings of the sessions will be available in the coming weeks, extending access to these valuable learning opportunities for quality professionals and health care leaders across the state.

Thank You for Your Leadership

Quality improvement is a continuous journey that requires commitment at every level of an organization. During Healthcare Quality Week, we extend our sincere appreciation to the professionals and leaders who champion this work every day.

Thank you for your dedication, expertise and unwavering focus on improving quality, enhancing patient safety and advancing better outcomes for the patients and communities Wisconsin hospitals and health systems serve.

October 19–25, 2026 is International Infection Prevention Week (IIPW)

IIPW is an annual observance that celebrates and recognizes all health care and public health professionals who play a critical role in keeping patients, residents and the public safe and healthy.

IIPW’s 2026 theme is “Past. Present. Protected.” The week celebrates the dedicated past, present and future infection prevention professionals!

The Wisconsin HAI Prevention Program wants to thank all infection prevention professionals for the hard work they do every day to prevent the spread of infections in Wisconsin. We encourage our health care and public health partners to celebrate and empower their infection prevention professionals including infection preventionists, environmental services staff, nurses and other health care staff by recognizing the work that they do.  

For resources on celebrating IIPW, check out the Infection Prevention and You webpage.

Maternal Health Feedback Requested - Make Your Voice Heard

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) is one of 15 states that was awarded funds from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as part of a 10-year project called Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH). The goal of the TMaH project are to improve maternal health; specifically, to improve experience of care, avoid preventable injury or death during or after pregnancy and increase access to midwifery services.

DHS encourages providers, administrators and quality improvement staff who work in maternal health to take this survey.

Their goal is to ensure critical voices are built into the project plan and implementation to strengthen the maternal health workforce specifically regarding workforce expansion, quality improvement, behavioral health, health-related social needs, remote patient monitoring and reimbursement aspects.

The TMaH survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Responses will be confidential. The aggregate data will be analyzed for trends and summarized with a publicly available report. Find additional information about the survey here.

Caring for Wisconsin's Caregivers    

Save the Date: Caring for Wisconsin's Caregivers Initiative

Wisconsin hospitals from across the state participated in the Caring for Wisconsin's Caregivers: 2026 WHA Healthcare Workforce Well-being Summit in September and are actively completing The Breen Scale™ to evaluate their organization's workforce well-being infrastructure, identify opportunities for alignment and growth and guide strategic action planning that supports a healthier workforce.

Throughout November, submitted results will be aggregated and anonymized for analysis. Organizations that have completed The Breen Scale™ will be invited to participate in a results debrief webinar on December 3, 2026. This session will serve as the launching point for our Caring for Wisconsin's Caregivers Learning Collaborative, which is scheduled to begin in mid-January 2027.

If your organization would like to be part of this important initiative, we encourage you to complete The Breen Scale™ by October 31. If you need additional time, please reach out. We are happy to work with organizations individually to establish a timeline that aligns with their needs and circumstances.

Didn't attend the September summit? It's not too late to get involved. If you are interested in beginning the process and learning more about The Breen Scale™, contact us and we'll help you get started.

📅 Please mark your calendars for the December 3 Debrief Webinar.

Together, we can build healthier workplaces, support our caregivers and strengthen the future of health care in Wisconsin.

Superior Health Quality Alliance    

WHA and Superior Health Partner to Advance Quality Improvement Across Wisconsin

WHA is proud to partner with Superior Health Quality Alliance (Superior Health) to support Wisconsin health care organizations in advancing quality improvement through the 13th Scope of Work (13SOW).

We are excited to share that Wisconsin hospitals, clinics and skilled nursing facilities are actively engaging in the initiative and completing their provider assessments. These assessments are a key first step in identifying organizational strengths and opportunities and will help inform a customized quality improvement action plan tailored to each organization’s unique needs and goals.

A sincere thank you to the many Wisconsin health care organizations that have already completed their assessments. Your participation is helping build a strong foundation for meaningful quality improvement work across the state.

If your organization is enrolled in the 13SOW and has not yet completed the provider assessment, you may be contacted by one of our dedicated quality advisors to offer support and assistance. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out with any questions. We're happy to connect you with the right person to help guide you through the assessment process.

Complete the Provider Assessment.

Together, we are strengthening quality, improving outcomes and supporting excellence in health care across Wisconsin.

This initiative is aligned with CMS Overall Hospital Star Ratings and Value-Based Purchasing programs, supporting hospitals in improving quality, safety and performance outcomes.

WHA is a member of the Superior Health Quality Alliance (Superior Health), a seven-partner organization focused on improving care for Medicare beneficiaries. They collaborate with patients, clinicians, health care organizations and communities across Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin to support the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) quality improvement objectives.