Online Program

295480
From data to information for action: The county health rankings experience


Monday, November 4, 2013 : 1:30 p.m. - 1:50 p.m.

Patrick Remington, M.D., MPH, Health Sciences Learning Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI
In March 2013, the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will release the 4th annual County Health Rankings. The Rankings use local data from each of the 3,000 counties in the U.S to summarize the overall health outcomes and the health factors—including health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and the physical environment—that influence the health of each county. This presentation will describe our experience working with the communities in response to the results of the Rankings. For example, community leaders in Menominee County, WI responded to ranking last in the state by identifying specific policies, programs, and partners to address each of the health determinants outlined in the Rankings. Ongoing challenges will be described including: 1) the validity of the estimates, especially for smaller counties, 2) the relationship of the Rankings to other local data initiatives, including Healthy People, performance monitoring, and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), 3) the approaches that can be used to “dig deeper” on specific health issues, and 4) training and technical assistance needs for local public health officials. Addressing these challenges will require collaboration between local, state, and Federal partners, so that communities can continue to move from data, to information for action.

Learning Areas:

Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Define the challenges of developing health estimates for small counties. Identify the training and technical needs of local public health officials in the development of local health estimates. Differentiate necessary building block of collaboration between local, state and federal partners in order to move data from information to action.

Keyword(s): Community Building, Data Collection

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am an expert in the center and have worked in this field for several years. As an expert on this topic I have served as the PI and project director for an ongoing activity that has served to identify and develop methods for compiling data for community use to improve community health. Additionally, I have a medical degree from the University of Wisconsin and a MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Minnesota.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.