Medical Services -- Hospitals gather the medical services data from patient charts, in compliance with HIPAA patient privacy regulations, and report data to the national Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). MetaStar, Wisconsin’s independent quality improvement organization, then takes the Wisconsin hospital data from CMS and combines it for use in CheckPoint. The data represents all patients no matter who pays for the care. The WHA does not see the data until it is prepared for CheckPoint. The medical services data is updated every three months.

Surgical Services -- Hospitals gather the surgical services data from patient charts, in compliance with HIPAA patient privacy regulations, and report data to the national Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). MetaStar, Wisconsin's independent quality improvement organization, then takes the Wisconsin hospital data from CMS and combines it for use in CheckPoint. The data represents all patients no matter who pays for the care. The WHA does not see the data until it is prepared for CheckPoint. The Surgical services data is updated every three months.

Indexes - the Index information is created using the patient data collected for the medical and surgical services measures. The indexes are updated every three months.

Error Prevention -- The error prevention information is collected by hospitals. Then hospitals enter the data directly into CheckPoint.  WHA audits the data for accuracy.  The error prevention information will be updated every six months.

Inpatient Quality Indicators -- The Inpatient Quality Indicators include three distinct types of measures. Volume measures examine the volume of inpatient procedures for which a link has been demonstrated between the number of procedures performed and outcomes such as mortality. In-hospital mortality measures examine outcomes following procedures and for common medical conditions. Utilization examines procedures for which questions have been raised about overuse, underuse, and misuse. The inpatient quality indicators are updated annually.

Patient Experience of Care Survey -- The patient experience of care data is collected using the HCAHPS survey. The survey results are sent to the national Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) warehouse and then, publicly reported on the Hospital Compare Web site. CheckPoint receives the survey results for Wisconsin hospitals directly from Hospital Compare. The patient experience of care survey data is updated every three months.