Health Matters: February 2025

FEATURED POST

Digging Deeper: Mapping Maternal Health

Maternal health is a pressing issue in the United States, highlighted by decreases in obstetric services and increasing maternal morbidity. PolicyMap users can integrate datasets like area demographics, chronic health conditions, deprivation indexes, and poverty rates with Surgo Health’s Granular Maternal Vulnerability Index (gMVI) for a nuanced understanding of maternal health challenges. Explore how this powerful tool can improve help outcomes and advance equitable care.

ON THE BLOG

Purged Federal Agency Data Available on PolicyMap

Numerous essential datasets were recently purged from federal agency websites, including data from CDC PLACES (Population Level Analysis and Community Estimates), the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), and the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST)—to name just a few. This week A federal judge ordered federal health agencies to restore websites and datasets. While we don’t know what happens next, we want to assure you that they are still accessible on our platform.

Understanding Where Maternal Vulnerability is Greatest in the United States

Healthcare for women has been a longstanding problem in the United States for numerous reasons including cost, access, insurance coverage, and state and federal policies. In 2022, over 22 women died for every 100,000 live births. Explore the data behind this urgent public health crisis.

PolicyMap and Surgo Health Partner to Drive Awareness of the Critical State of Maternal Care in the U.S.

Announcing the integration of Surgo Health’s Granular Maternity Vulnerability Index (gMVI) into PolicyMap’s platform. This collaboration empowers users to visualize maternal health vulnerabilities alongside social determinants of health data, enabling targeted interventions to address disparities and improve maternal outcomes across the U.S.

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CUSTOMER STORY

Vitamin Angels

Vitamin Angels is a global public health nonprofit, addressing malnutrition in pregnant women and children by providing proven nutrition solutions to underserved communities. With PolicyMap, they developed a zip code scoring system to identify areas with the greatest lack of access to prenatal care.

STI data from the CDC has been updated to 2023. This includes data on the cases and rates of Syphilis, Gonorrhea, and Chlamydia.

The CDFI Investment data was updated to 2021.

Natality data from the CDC has been updated to 2023.

CDFI Fund Persistent Poverty Counties data has been updated to the latest 2024 release.

HIV diagnoses and prevalence data from the CDC has been updated to 2022.

The Census American Community Survey (ACS) data is now updated to the latest time frames (2019-2023, 2014-2018, 2009-2013). It is available to all users. Data can be found under many menus, including: Demographics, Incomes & Spending, Housing, Health, Quality of Life, Economy, Education, Federal Guidelines.

The Diversity Index and Theil Index data is now updated to the latest ACS time frames (2019-2023, 2014-2018, 2009-2013).

Disaster declaration data from FEMA has been updated to January 2025. This includes the Los Angeles wildfires.

We are committed to our promise of curated, cleaned, standardized, and always updated data. We’re posting real-time updates on our website and X (formerly known as Twitter).

Published Research

Explore scholarly works from students and researchers using PolicyMap.

Unincorporation in counties as a political determinant of health: An exploration of five states, published in ScienceDirect

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Open PolicyMap Training Sessions

Offered twice a week. Register here.

Level 1: Learning the basics of PolicyMap Level 2: Learn the Data Loader, Multi-Layer Maps, and other Advanced Features

Open to non-subscribers. Course times rotate weekly. Don’t see a time that works for you?
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Join Us!

National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Health Quality Forum

April 7-8, 2025
Baltimore, MD

PolicyMap is excited to join the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Health Quality Forum! Stop by our booth to learn how geospatial data can help address health disparities and improve care for vulnerable populations. By mapping social determinants of health and alongside other key metrics, PolicyMap helps identify areas with barriers to quality care, such as limited rural access or maternal health challenges.

Health Matters: February 2025

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