The Wisconsin Health Information Organization (WHIO) is a not-for-profit collaboration of health care providers, insurance companies, employers and public entities created in 2005 to develop a statewide database of health insurance claims. WHIO’s goal is to use health care data to improve the quality, affordability, safety and efficiency of health care in the state.

Thirteen organizations voluntarily provide de-identified health insurance claims for the database, which is continuously updated. The fifth release of the WHIO data – Data Mart Version 5 (DMV5) – represents claims from more than 3.7 million Wisconsin residents (almost 63 percent of the state's population) between October 1, 2008 and December 31, 2010. DMV5 includes data from all major health care payers in Wisconsin but only a portion of Medicare.

The Wisconsin Medical Society – one of WHIO's founding members – analyzes health insurance claims data from the WHIO database to guide its performance measurement, quality improvement and patient-centered care efforts.

WHIO Orientation Sessions

The Wisconsin Medical Society offers complimentary quarterly webinars that provide an overview of the WHIO data, describe the methodologies used in producing the standard WHIO report and offer insights into how various stakeholders use the data in their health care efforts.

The final WHIO Orientation Session for 2011 is December 13 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Details are online. Click here for registration information.

For more information, e-mail QandE@wismed.org.