WHIO employs Ingenix to create statewide healthcare data source

Ingenix, a health IT and consulting company, will collaborate with the Wisconsin Health Information Organization (WHIO) to create a statewide repository of health claims data in Wisconsin.

WHIO will report on the quality of care, measured against evidence-based treatment guidelines, allowing Wisconsin healthcare provider groups to benchmark their results against their peers, according to the Eden Prairie, Minn.-based company. The initiative will also provide insight for employers and consumers on the value of healthcare services in the state, Ingenix said.

“At the direction of WHIO, Ingenix will use its decision support technology and analytic expertise to help offer meaningful quality and cost comparisons of episodes of care, based on broad and deep data from health plans, employers and provider systems,” said John Stenson, managing principal of Ingenix’s consulting business.

Initially, five commercial insurers and the Wisconsin Medicaid program will provide data to the repository, the company said. WHIO also is encouraging other regional healthcare providers and payors to contribute their data, increasing the value of the reports for Wisconsin physicians, employers and consumers. The data collection and reporting processes will comply with all privacy regulations, Ingenix said.

Ingenix said the pilot reports from the WHIO database are scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2009, with a broader rollout later in the year.

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