Web-based tool offers healthcare system metrics, patient demographics

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A new Web tool developed by the federal government offers you a detailed view of the nation's healthcare system. See how you could use it to get to know your patients better.

You have a new tool to help you monitor specific indicators in the healthcare industry as well as demographic information across the U.S. population.

The Health System Measurement Project gives healthcare providers, the public, and policy-makers Web-based access to national datasets collected by the federal government. The data can reveal information about population characteristics by age, sex, income level, insurance, and geography. Data can be compared from multiple sources, allowing doctors to compare trends using national, state, and regional information. For example, the online tool enables a physician to find out how many patients delayed necessary care for financial reasons based on their payment system (private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid), race, ethnicity, age, disability, education level, income level, and more.

The measures included in the Health System Measurement Project were developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The metrics are aligned with the HHS strategic plan and national quality strategy and are drawn from existing public datasets. The tool also contains information about how the measures were calculated, with direct links to the original data sources.

You can access the Web site at https://healthmeasures.aspe.hhs.gov.

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