WHA Info Center - Data Set Documentation

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Data Set Documentation

The Data Set Documentation provides information on the data sets that are publicly released each quarter. You’ll find the different database layouts available for the data sets and the complete listing and description of the data elements that are provided. Last updated October 11, 2023.

WHAIC Contact

Brian Competente
Vice President
608-274-1820
EMAIL: Brian Competente

General Description

The data contained in the data sets were reported to WHA Information Center (WHAIC) pursuant to Chapter 153, Wis. Stats. That reported information contains patient demographic data, admission and discharge data, charge and payer data, and diagnostic and procedure data, among other data.

Definitions of data elements reported to WHA Information Center are based on uniform billing forms, either the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Form 1500 or Uniform Billing Form (UB-04). Freestanding Ambulatory Surgery Centers submit a record for each surgical case that occurs within a specific quarter. Each submitted record contained items or aggregations of items from the billing forms.

Fixed-Width File Layout

WHAIC has provided the Fixed-Width File Layout. Inpatient, Outpatient Surgery and Emergency Visit Department data types are available in this file format. This is the legacy format from the Bureau Health Information Agency when WHAIC took over the responsibility to collect and disseminate the data sets.

Relational File Layout

The Relational File Layout is the recommended file layout for data users. It provides more data element information than the Fixed-Width Layout.

The main differences between the formats are the number of diagnoses and procedures provided on a single record and the revenue line detail. The Fixed-Width format provides a maximum of ten diagnoses and six procedures for a single record, whereas the relational format provides all of the diagnoses and procedures on a single record. Another difference is that the Present on Admission (POA) Indicators are only available in the relational format.

The relational format includes the revenue-enhanced data, which includes revenue codes, CPT/HCPCS, units of service and the revenue line charges.

Detailed Description of Data Elements

WHAIC provides information for each of the data elements that are publicly available in each of the data sets. Some data elements are not available in the Fixed-Width Data Layout.

Support Tables

The following tables are support tables for codes in the data sets.