Data
The data included in this web-based tool are publicly available and consist of, but are not limited to:
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Area Health Resources File (data released 2020)
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) PLACES (data released March 2021)
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County Health Rankings (data released 2021)
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Dartmouth Health Atlas – Medicare Reimbursements/Enrollee (data released 2019)
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Hospital Compare (data released July 2021)
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U.S. Census, 2017 American Community Survey (data released 2020)
Note: Hospital Compare data in the Toolkit does not include data that has been suppressed due to small numbers. The Critical Access Hospital Measurement and Performance Assessment System (CAHMPAS), maintained by the Flex Monitoring Team, provides access to financial, quality, and community-benefit performance data of CAHs at the state and hospital level. Community and quality data in CAHMPAS are available to the public. Critical access hospitals (CAHs), state Flex Coordinators, and officials from the State Offices of Rural Health may access detailed financial data through a password-protected site. State Flex Coordinators and CAHs already have access to their own Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP) data from quarterly reports created by Flex Monitoring in support of Federal Office of Rural Health Policy.
Benchmarks
Benchmarks provide a standard or point of reference for preparing data. View this brief video to learn how national and state-level benchmarks for appropriate variables can be utilized to compare scenario data available at the county or hospital levels.
Population Health Portal - Use of Benchmarks
Limitations
Limitations apply to the population health planning tool. The data is limited to the data sets that are publicly available and permitted to be repurposed on this website. The data sets are also limited to the most recent data published by federal agencies. Finally, the developed scenarios and the educational materials produced are not all-encompassing. They are examples of the types of analysis that can be conducted using public data for population health planning.