Online Tool Features Community-Specific Health Care Information
An online planning tool for Northern California hospitals was launched on Monday to help locate hospitals and health clinics by county or ZIP code, as well as track rates of health threats, such as childhood obesity and asthma, the Sacramento Bee reports.
The no-cost Web site, which also is a resource for community groups and public health workers, features interactive maps and data comparisons to create snapshots of a neighborhood's public health.
Catholic Healthcare West, Sutter Health, Kaiser Permanente and the UC-Davis Health System tracked:
- Demographic data;
- Youth obesity rates;
- Death rates;
- Hospitalization and emergency department visits by disease; and
- Health insurance status for El Dorado, Pacer, Sacramento and Yolo counties.
The database also includes information from interviews with community leaders and state and federal databases, the Bee reports. The Web site does not offer reasons for health disparities or draw conclusions from the data.
Katie Villegas, executive director of Yolo County Children's Alliance, said the data in the online tool also could be used in creating grant proposals and community presentations.
Bill Mueller, managing partner at Valley Vision, a partner in the project, said the Web site's data will not be static and he would like to see others add to the data (Nguyen, Sacramento Bee, 10/29). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.