Online Delaware Health Tracker launches
Christiana Care is a sponsoring partner of Delaware Health Tracker, a new Web-based source of population data and information about community health and healthy communities.
The free website, www.dehealthtracker.com, is a key resource for community health professionals, policy makers, researchers and advocates to address identified health problems. Dozens of sources meeting rigorous criteria for data collection and analysis provide content to the site.
Delaware Health Tracker features 100 dashboard indicators assessing the health and well-being of Delaware by color code. Green represents “good” indicators; yellow represents “cautionary” indicators; and red represents “serious” indicators, pointing toward areas where more work needs to be done.
Additional features include: evidenced-based promising practices to promote best practice sharing; the ability to set, track and evaluate local goals and priorities; readily available comparison reports; and local, regional and national news. There is no sharing of patient data.
“This is a valuable tool, not only for hospitals and all health care providers, but for community leaders as well,” said Wayne A. Smith, president and CEO of the Delaware Healthcare Association. “Delaware Health Tracker supports decisions about where to allocate precious resources in order to maximize opportunities for improving the health and quality of life for all Delawareans. The website also encourages collaboration in order to avoid duplication of services.”
“The website is another important resource in the ongoing efforts to both inform and empower Delawareans,” said Paul Silverman, Ph.D., associate deputy Director for Health Information and Science at the Delaware Division of Public Health.
Healthy Communities Institute (HCI), a California-based health care information company and creator of the nationwide Healthy Communities Network, designed the information system for Delaware Health Tracker. Delaware is the fourth state to implement the HCI system statewide.
Other sponsors of the project are Bayhealth Medical Center, Beebe Medical Center and the United Way of Delaware. The Delaware Healthcare Association manages the website.