Connecting statewide health information technology strategy to payment reform

To develop an effective way to link statewide healthcare information technology strategy to payment reform.

Investigation of what Wisconsin did to develop and publicly share provider performance data and then use those data to drive payment reform.

We examine 2 statewide organizations (Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality and Wisconsin Health Information Organization) and 1 integrated health system (ThedaCare) to evaluate how they pool data and use those data to measure provider performance.

When aggregated data regarding health outcomes are shared, a clearer picture emerges of provider performance baselines and improvements with which payment models can be developed.

Aggregating commercial and Medicare claims data will help states to better measure provider performance and to compare providers on quality and cost. The ability to compare performance using broad databases is necessary if the current payment system in the United States is to be reformed.