HealthLandscape

HealthLandscape is an interactive web atlas that aims to democratize the use of geographic information systems (GIS) for understanding health and communities. HealthLandscape is a product of the AAFP’s Robert Graham Center and the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. It allows users to create and display maps and tables based on a growing array of data relevant to health and primary care. Users can combine, analyze and display information spatially in order to promote understanding and improvement of health and health care. Additionally, it offers select users the unique capacity to upload, geocode and map their own data. Once converted, this data may be shared with the HealthLandscape community or securely stored for limited user access.

This online instrument appeals to U.S. health professionals, policymakers, advocates, academic researchers, planners and industry professionals interested in the visual and spatial relationships among health information. Its components include:

• Community HealthView: A home for data relevant to health in communities, where public users can upload and geocode their information and share it with others to depict populations at risk, health outcomes and the distribution of health services.
• Health Center Mapping Tool: A HIPAA-compliant, secure home for uploading, geocoding and mapping clinical data and other secure information, and a place to understand the patient distribution, service areas, market penetration, and relationships to local and regional populations. Contact the Graham Center for more information about accessing this section of the site.
• My HealthLandscape: This section provides a secure environment for users to upload and geocode their own health-relevant data; display information with key population, demographic, and economic indicators; and collaborate with others in their organization to create a myriad of informative visual displays.
   

Researchers may be particularly interested in viewing physician workforce data in the Primary Care Atlas, census and population data in the layers section to better understand the communities they are investigating, and their own data uploaded through My HealthLandscape (non-HIPAA sensitive data) or the Health Center Mapping Tool (clinical or HIPAA-sensitive data).
 

Visit the HealthLandscape website for additional information and explore the HealthLandscape blog.