Using Geographic Information Systems to Match Local Health Needs with Public Health Services and Programs

Geographic information system (GIS) technology offers local health departments a planning tool to match community needs with public health services and programs.

These researchers studied four large health departments, two in California and two in Florida, interviewing key informants from all levels of the organization. They identified five critical factors that enable health departments to use GIS methods to inform service planning:

  1. Priority setting—some type of formalized strategic planning activity including traditional health assessments, community-driven planning processes and, in some cases, political mandates.
  2. Planning with a geographic focus—identify a purpose for mapping and put program planning and service provision questions into a geographic context.
  3. Access to geo-enabled data—availability of population health data and health department service and program data.
  4. Resources and technical capacity—resources needed include specialized but widely available GIS software, data management or statistical software, and staff proficient in using the software.
  5. Responsive organizational structure—capacity to use information generated through GIS to make changes to services and programs then reevaluate using strategic planning.

GIS methodologies provide local health departments with a way to inform decision-making and better align their offerings with community needs and health outcomes.

April Issue of Health Affairs Focuses on Patient Safety and Health Care Quality

  1. 1. The Ongoing Quality Improvement Journey
  2. 2. A Road Map for Improving the Performance of Performance Measures
  3. 3. Global Trigger Tool' Shows that Adverse Events in Hospitals May be Ten Times Greater Than Previously Measured
  4. 4. Preventing Bloodstream Infections
  5. 5. Measuring the Performance of Individual Physicians by Collecting Data from Multiple Health Plans
  6. 6. Measuring Health Care Performance Now, Not Tomorrow
  7. 7. Despite Improved Quality of Care in the Veterans Affairs Health System, Racial Disparity Persists for Important Clinical Outcomes
  8. 8. The Importance of Transitional Care in Achieving Health Reform
  9. 9. An Early Status Report on the Beacon Communities' Plans for Transformation Via Health Information Technology
  10. 10. A Comparative Study of 11 Local Health Department Organizational Networks
  11. 11. Public Health Performance
  12. 12. A Self-Assessment Process for Accreditation Preparedness
  13. 13. Public Health Delivery Systems
  14. 14. Regionalization in Local Public Health Systems
  15. 15. A Shot in the Rear, Not a Shot in the Dark
  16. 16. What Predicts Local Public Health Agency Performance Improvement?
  17. 17. Growth of a Scientific Community of Practice
  18. 18. Evolution of Coauthorship in Public Health Services and Systems Research
  19. 19. Resources that May Matter
  20. 20. Evidence Links Increases in Public Health Spending to Declines in Preventable Deaths
  21. 21. Public Health Financial Management Competencies
  22. 22. Decision Science
  23. 23. Public Health Financial Management Needs
  24. 24. Data-Driven Management Strategies in Public Health Collaboratives
  25. 25. Using Geographic Information Systems to Match Local Health Needs with Public Health Services and Programs
  26. 26. Public Health Systems and Services Research
  27. 27. Mapping the Multidisciplinary Field of Public Health Services and Systems Research

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