Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #102106

Miguel A. Zuniga, MD, DrPH, Genny Carrillo, MD, ScD, and Yoon-Ho Seol, PhD. Department of Health Informatics, Medical College of Georgia, 1120 15th Street, Building AL, Augusta, GA 30912-0100, (706) 721-6067, mzuniga@mcg.edu

Abstract Public domain electronic data bases provide public health professionals with useful information to aid in planning, implementing and evaluating health care interventions. Geographical information systems (GIS) are helpful tools for decision analysts and makers to visualize information in a clear and easy to understand format. GIS applications in public health offer novel methods for massaging data-driven health information and are the foundation to knowledge discovery and dissemination. The purpose of this study is to use GIS to present the range of nursing indicators values found in the Online Survey, Certification, and Reporting (OSCAR) database for all of Georgia's 159 counties. The quality measures data are derived from the national MDS Repository. Twelve resident-specific long term quality measures are used in this application. The county-specific nursing home quality distribution in the state of Georgia helps us visualize the behavior of nursing home care state-wide. These data visualization assessment is useful to policy analysts and health care managers to better plan and allocate healthcare dollars.

Learning Objectives: Abstract. Public domain electronic data bases provide public health professionals with useful information to aid in planning, implementing and evaluating health care interventions. Geographical information systems (GIS) are helpful tools for decision analysts and makers to visualize information in a clear and easy to understand format. GIS applications in public health offer novel methods for massaging data-driven health information and are the foundation to knowledge discovery and dissemination. The purpose of this study is to use GIS to present the range of nursing indicators values found in the Online Survey, Certification, and Reporting (OSCAR) database for all of Georgia’s 159 counties. The quality measures data are derived from the national MDS Repository. Twelve resident-specific long term quality measures are used in this application. The county-specific nursing home quality distribution in the state of Georgia helps us visualize the behavior of nursing home care state-wide. These data visualization assessment is useful to policy analysts and health care managers to better plan and allocate healthcare dollars. Learning Objectives Participants in this session will

• Evaluate the importance of using GIS applications to asses county-specific nursing homes quality in the state of Georgia.
• Assess novel ways to use public-domain databases in public health research and practice

Keywords: Geographic Information Systems, Nursing Homes

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.