Hospital Quality Institute

What Hospital Quality Institute does

Hospital Quality Institute (HQI) is a Sacramento, California-based non-profit organization founded in 2004 that operates a statewide quality improvement and patient safety analytics infrastructure for California hospitals. HQI runs two core technology platforms: the Hospital Quality Improvement Platform (HQIP), a secure web-based analytics environment serving 370+ California hospitals and 1,100+ active users with 115+ reports and dashboards, 1,000+ quality measures, and millions of encounters analyzed annually; and CHPSOData, a patient safety event reporting and analytics platform used by CHPSO member hospitals for legally protected event reporting, AI-assisted data standardization, NLP-driven signal detection, and quarterly statewide aggregated reports across 284+ reporting facilities. Both platforms leverage data hospitals already submit to HCAI SIERA, AB 2876, NHSN, and CMQCC, requiring no EHR integration.

HQI's business model is association/membership-funded rather than transactional: HQIP is provided at no additional cost to California Hospital Association (CHA) member hospitals, with HQI closely affiliated with CHA and its three regional hospital associations (HA, HASC, HCNCC). CHPSO historically operated as a separately subscribed Patient Safety Organization but will discontinue PSO services effective December 19, 2025, with members transitioning to Press Ganey's nationally recognized PSO via a partnership offering complimentary three-year memberships. HQI also operates the AB 1204 Hospital Equity Reporting Support module, which automatically generates approximately 95% of required HCAI Hospital Equity Report fields for California hospitals subject to the Medical Equity Disclosure Act, as well as a consumer-facing Quality Transparency Dashboard built on publicly available CMS data. The organization is led by President Robert Imhoff, with VP of Measurement Science and Data Analytics Scott Masten, PhD, Principal Engineer Tim Rehwald, and Programmer Analyst Carlix Lung among the named leadership; headcount is reported in the 11–50 range. HQI generates additional member engagement through an annual conference, webinars, biweekly AB 1204 workgroup meetings, and approximately two dozen CHPSO Safe Table forums per year.

Name

Hospital Quality Institute

Legal name

Hospital Quality Institute

Website

https://hqinstitute.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hospital Quality Institute is a California non-profit that operates HQIP and CHPSOData — statewide analytics and patient safety platforms serving 370+ California hospitals with benchmarking, AB 1204 equity reporting, and AI-driven signal detection, funded primarily through affiliation with the California Hospital Association.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Quality Analytics

NAICS

Computer Facilities Management Services (541513)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Quality Measurement, Reporting & Benchmarking (HEDIS/Stars/CQM) (HLACAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

HIE Platforms & Network Services (Community/Regional/National) (HLACABAB), Health Information Exchange & Public Health Data Integration (HLAJAJAD)

Keywords

• Hospital quality analytics
• Patient safety reporting
• Healthcare benchmarking platform
• Quality improvement analytics
• Health equity reporting

Headquarters

HQ city

Sacramento

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Hospital Membership / Association Dues: HQI is a nonprofit quality improvement organization funded primarily by member hospitals, particularly California Hospital Association (CHA) member hospitals. HQIP is provided at no cost to CHA member hospitals. The organization is affiliated with CHA and its regional hospital association partners (HA, HASC, HCNCC), suggesting membership/association funding as the primary revenue model.
2. CHPSO Membership: CHPSO (Collaborative Healthcare Patient Safety Organization) operates as a Patient Safety Organization under HQI. CHPSO membership is available to qualifying hospitals. Effective December 19, 2025, CHPSO discontinued its PSO services, and qualifying CHPSO members are offered a complimentary three-year membership with Press Ganey's nationally recognized PSO as a transition option.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

Hospital Quality Institute operates two primary web-based analytics platforms for California hospitals: the Hospital Quality Improvement Platform (HQIP), a statewide benchmarking and quality improvement analytics system that aggregates HCAI SIERA, NHSN, and CMQCC data into 115+ reports and 1,000+ quality measures; and CHPSOData, a patient safety analytics platform with AI-assisted data standardization, comparative analytics, and quarterly signal detection. Both platforms are provided at no cost to California Hospital Association member hospitals.

Product overview

Hospital Quality Institute operates a multi-platform product portfolio centered on healthcare quality analytics for California hospitals. The core offerings include the Hospital Quality Improvement Platform (HQIP) for statewide benchmarking and quality improvement analytics, and CHPSOData for patient safety event reporting and analysis. These platforms integrate data from NHSN, HCAI SIERA, and CMQCC to generate 115+ reports and dashboards across quality measures. Additional modules include the Quality Transparency Dashboard for consumer-facing performance disclosure, AB 1204 Hospital Equity Reporting Support for state-mandated equity compliance, the HQIP Equity Dashboard for disparity analysis, and Sentinel Signal Detection Reporting for identifying unusual clinical patterns. The platforms are offered free to California Hospital Association member hospitals and do not require EHR integration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Hospital Quality Improvement Platform (HQIP): A statewide benchmarking and analytics platform helping California hospitals improve quality, safety, efficiency, and health equity. Provides access to 115+ reports and dashboards, 1,000+ quality measures, and serves 370+ California hospitals.
• Collaborative Healthcare Patient Safety Organization (CHPSO)
• CHPSOData
• Quality Transparency Dashboard (QTD)

Products and services

• Hospital Quality Improvement Platform (HQIP) A secure, web-based statewide analytics platform for California hospital performance benchmarking and quality improvement. Helps hospitals measure outcomes, compare performance with peer hospitals, and identify opportunities to improve quality, safety, efficiency, and health equity using existing hospital-reported data. Includes 115+ reports, dashboards, and 1,000+ quality measures.
• CHPSOData A patient safety analytics platform that optimizes the uploading, reporting, and analytics process for safety event data. Uses AI and NLP to standardize adverse events, enable comparative analytics with different benchmarks, and uncover hidden risks through exploratory analysis. Supports Excel and CSV file uploads and quarterly statewide signal detection.
• Quality Transparency Dashboard A consumer-facing dashboard leveraging publicly available CMS data on over 90 quality measures to create hospital-specific dashboards highlighting performance on eight key metrics, with consumer-level explanations and optional hospital comments.
• AB 1204 Hospital Equity Reporting Support A reporting solution within HQIP that helps California hospitals generate AB 1204-compliant Hospital Equity Reports, automatically calculating core quality measures, applying stratifications, identifying Top 10 Disparities, and generating HCAI-formatted CSV reports.
• HQIP Equity Dashboard An interactive environment within HQIP for exploring disparities and validating Top 10 disparities, allowing hospitals to review calculated disparities and rate ratios, compare stratified outcomes across demographic groups, analyze trends over time, and evaluate community impact.
• Sentinel Signal Detection Reporting Quarterly aggregated signal detection reports automatically detecting abnormal changes in diagnosis incidence from hospital encounter records in HQIP and term frequencies from CHPSO safety reports. Identifies emerging patient safety concerns such as provider disputes, medication errors, environmental hazards, and EHR inconsistencies.

Quantifiable outcome

• AB 1204 report field automation: typically about 95% of required report fields are generated automatically for participating hospitals
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability5 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, major, core, minor and moderate.

• California Hospital Association (CHA)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerHQI is an affiliate of the California Hospital Association. CHA member hospitals receive HQIP at no additional cost. HQI and CHA co-host the annual conference. HQI's platform link is promoted through CHA channels and member enrollment is facilitated through CHA membership.
• Press GaneymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEffective December 19, 2025, CHPSO discontinued its Patient Safety Organization services. HQI and Press Ganey partnered to offer CHPSO participants a seamless transition into Press Ganey's nationally recognized PSO, with a complimentary three-year membership for qualifying CHPSO members (organizations that were part of CHPSO as of November 1, 2025, and submitted data in the past nine months).
• California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC)coreTechnology or IntegrationHQI collaborates with CMQCC to ensure that maternal measure files generated in the CMQCC Maternal Data Center (MDC) can be uploaded directly into the HQIP equity reporting workflow. Hospitals upload MDC-generated maternal measure files (not raw maternity encounter extracts) into HQIP to incorporate maternity measures into the Equity Report and Top 10 analysis, avoiding duplicate data preparation.
• California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHCAI is the source of the SIERA encounter data and AB 2876 historical statewide datasets used by HQIP. HQI's AB 1204 reporting solution generates reports that hospitals submit to HCAI through the HDC submission portal. HCAI also publishes the list of hospitals required to submit Hospital Equity Measures Reports. HQI monitors HCAI regulatory developments and updates platform calculations accordingly.
• CDC National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)coreTechnology or IntegrationHQI maintains a NHSN group through which participating hospitals share healthcare-associated infection (HAI) data. HQI automatically imports hospital HAI standardized infection ratios (SIRs) monthly, which are displayed in HQIP reports and benchmarking dashboards. Hospitals join HQI's NHSN group through the CDC NHSN web portal (one-time setup).
• Hospital Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties (HA)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerHA is listed as a partner organization on HQI's website, displaying a partner logo and link. The partnership facilitates distribution of HQI services to member hospitals in the San Diego and Imperial Counties region.
• Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerHASC is listed as a partner organization on HQI's website, displaying a partner logo and link. The partnership facilitates distribution of HQI services to member hospitals in the Southern California region.
• Hospital Council of Northern & Central California (HCNCC)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerHCNCC is listed as a partner organization on HQI's website, displaying a partner logo and link. The partnership facilitates distribution of HQI services to member hospitals in Northern and Central California.
• Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG)moderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerHSAG serves as the CMS Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) and partners with HQI on educational content. HQI references HSAG's Health Equity Quickinar Series and its Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (HIIN) work. The 2025 Annual Conference includes a joint session with HSAG on CMS national priorities.
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)moderateTechnology or IntegrationHQI's HQIP implements AHRQ's Patient Safety Indicators (PSI), Inpatient Quality Indicators (IQI), and Pediatric Quality Indicators (PDI) in its reporting platform. The Severe Maternal Morbidity and Mortality report follows AHRQ's Maternal Health Indicator report. HQIP also uses AHRQ's HCUP Comorbidity (Elixhauser) methodology.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Healthgrades: Healthgrades publishes consumer-facing hospital quality ratings and clinical outcomes analytics for hospitals and consumers. Comparable to HQI's Quality Transparency Dashboard mission but operating as a commercial consumer brand rather than a non-profit association.

Direct peers

• The Leapfrog Group: The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit that collects and publicly reports hospital safety and quality data, including the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade and Hospital Survey. Directly comparable to HQI's quality transparency mission and consumer-facing quality disclosure work.
• Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG): HSAG serves as the CMS Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) and partners with HQI on educational content. Comparable as a hospital quality improvement organization collaborating on national CMS priorities.
• Vizient: Vizient is a healthcare performance improvement company that provides analytics, benchmarking, and supply chain solutions to hospitals and health systems. Comparable to HQIP for performance benchmarking, quality measurement, and operational analytics across a national member network.
• Press Ganey: Press Ganey is a major patient experience and healthcare performance analytics firm operating the nationally recognized PSO that CHPSO members are transitioning into. Comparable to HQI's patient safety analytics, signal detection, and PSO services, but at national scale.
• California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC): CMQCC operates the Maternal Data Center and partners with HQI for maternal quality measurement uploads. Directly comparable as a California-based hospital quality collaborative with maternal health measures integrated into HQIP.
• Premier Inc. Premier is a healthcare improvement company that operates a national performance improvement and benchmarking platform for hospitals, providing clinical, financial, and operational analytics. Directly comparable to HQI's HQIP in mission and functionality, though serving a national footprint rather than a single state.

Broad incumbents

• National Quality Forum (NQF): NQF is a national nonprofit that endorses healthcare quality measures and promotes measurement-based improvement. Comparable to HQI's quality measurement framework but focused on measure endorsement and standards rather than operational hospital analytics.
• The Joint Commission: The Joint Commission is the largest U.S. hospital accreditor and operator of the National Patient Safety Goals and quality measurement programs. Comparable in hospital quality oversight but with a national regulatory mandate rather than a state-scoped analytics role.

Regional players

• Maryland Health Care Commission: The Maryland Health Care Commission operates state-level hospital quality reporting and performance measurement programs comparable to HQIP. While regional to Maryland rather than California, it represents the same model of state government-administered hospital quality analytics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HQInstitute
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCkDu_sBy7ndRsMvLXUAJfZg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/3678167
• Facebookfacebook.com/hospitalqualityinstitute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hospital Quality Institute