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WHIC Tool > FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
  • What do I need to run the WHIC Tool?
    If the system on which you will be running the WHIC Tool does not already have a licensed copy of Base SAS/SAS Graph/PC File Format (version 8.2 or higher) installed, and if you are an Ontario hospital, you will need to acquire a license from the SAS Institute.
  • Does the Hospital name that I select in WHIC have any impact on how the data is imported into WHIC?
    No, you can pick the name you want to appear on the report.
  • What are the data text files needed to use WHIC?
    The data text files needed for WHIC are loaded from the following datasets that hospitals hold locally: Continuing Care Reporting System (CCRS), Discharge Abstract Database (DAD), National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS), and Ontario Healthcare Reporting System (OHRS).
  • Do the DAD text files require Case Mix Group (CMG) information for WHIC?
    Your DAD text files must have a populated CMG field for your hospital to use WHIC for the calculation of some of the Hospital Accountability Agreement (HAA) indicators.
  • How does my hospital obtain the "Transition File" for the historical Complex Continuing Care (CCC) data needed when the new version of WHIC is released?
    The CCC components of WHIC use historical admission data that may or may not be present in your current CCRS dataset needed to calculate the CCC related indicators. In March 2006 arrangements have been made with the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) for each affected hospital to receive a "transition file" that contains the admission information that applies to current assessment data. You need to request this file yourself, directly from CIHI. To obtain your file, send a request by email to ccrs[at]cihi[dot]ca . In the subject line, CIHI asks that you mention your 5-digit CCC facility code(s) and that your request relates to the WHIC tool.
  • What do I do when I receive the requested CCC "Transition File" from CIHI?
    It is important that you take steps to ensure the long term safekeeping of the transition file you receive from CIHI. You may need this file again in the future, and the arrangement we have made for you to obtain this file at no cost is limited to the single request you will be making at this time. It is also important that you do not attempt to load the transition file you receive from CIHI into your current version of WHIC. Only an upcoming WHIC release has the special code needed to handle this file. We are currently testing this version. Please check our website (www.hospitalreport.ca ) for up-to-date information on the availability of this module.
  • What if I am having problems importing data into WHIC for running reports?
    If you have trouble importing the desired data files, this may indicate that there is an issue with the data file format you are trying to import. Please check if the date of the data file matches the date/time period which you have selected in WHIC. If the dates/time periods match, it may be due to other issues within the data file format, such as the file being in a "locked or encrypted" format and/or format that does not allow for ready access for importing (e.g. PDF, etc). For this scenario, as well as other data file related issues, please contact your Health Records department or the department within your hospital that is responsible for data abstraction for clinical data and/or your Finance department for financial data.
  • Can I delete the data files that I import to WHIC?
    You can delete the data files that you import in WHIC, except for the clinical data that were imported into the WHIC Complex Continuing Care (CCC) module. This function is not implemented in the WHIC CCC module. The delete button in the CCC module for the clinical data sets is deactivated (grey) to indicate that this function is not supported in WHIC. It is recommended that you review the clinical data files before importing them into the WHIC CCC module.
  • Should I expect indicator results generated by WHIC to be identical to those published by the Hospital Report Research Collaborative (HRRC) and the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (MOHLTC) Web Enabled Reporting System (WERS)?
    No, WHIC generated values may differ slightly from "official" HRRC or HAA indicator values in some situations. This is because a hospital's HRRC and MOHLTC final data sets differ slightly from the data sets hospitals used internally, and because some indicators require data from other hospitals to calculate values for an individual hospital.
  • Where can I get the information about the indicator values used in WHIC?
    For the methodological approaches used for clinical and financial indicators contained in the Acute Care and Complex Continuing Care modules in WHIC; please refer to the Hospital Report Technical Summaries available on our Public Reports page. For the methodological approaches used for the 2005/06 performance, volume, and monitoring indicators contained in the Hospital Accountability Agreement module in WHIC; please refer to the JPPC 2005/2006 Primer.
  • What is the difference between the Hospital Report e-Scorecard and the Hospital Report WHIC (Wizard for Hospital Indicator Calculation) Tool?
    Differentiating Factors WHIC e-Scorecard
         
    Application Type Shell application to be downloaded into a local PC with Base SAS software Web-based, stand-alone, password-protected, multidimensional application
    Key Objective Real-time calculation of a hospital's clinical and financial indicators Comparative analysis using annually-calculated Hospital Report indicators and components
    Target Users Board members, senior executives, quality improvement directors, decision support analysts Hospital staff with a decision support/quality improvement/data analysis portfolio
  • I have questions regarding the WHIC Tool. Who should I speak to?
    The WHIC Tool continues to be available for downloading for you to use to calculate the clinical and financial indicator values for the Hospital Report Acute Care and Complex Continuing Care sectors and for the 2005/06 Hospital Accountability Agreement Performance, Volume, and Monitoring indicators. If you have questions regarding the WHIC Tool, you are welcome to go to the WHIC Web Forum ; a peer-helper discussion board for exchanging hints, tips, and problems fixes.