On Thursday, a consortium of public and private health groups is slated to introduce a new online report card that aims to monitor the health characteristics of various San Francisco communities and identify areas for improvement, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Report Card Background
In 2007, San Francisco began posting community health information on its Health Matters in San Francisco website.
The new report card, called Community Vital Signs, aims to expand on the previous website by offering a centralized online repository of easily comparable health information for employers, health care providers, policymakers and residents.
The health coalition Community Benefit Partnership developed the report card, and the Healthy Communities Foundation created and maintains the software for the initiative.
Project organizers used about 150 measures and about 50 sources to develop the data for the report card.
Monitoring Health Trends
The report card highlights health disparities among San Francisco neighborhoods and compares San Francisco's health characteristics with other counties and the state.
Some of the data featured in the report card include:
- Birth weights;
- Emergency department visits and hospitalization rates;
- Mortality rates;
- Prevalent health conditions; and
- Residents' health insurance status and income.
Tracking Progress on Health Goals
The Community Vital Signs report card also plans to track the city's progress on 10 health goals that the San Francisco Health Commission adopted this year. The goals call for the city to:
- Eliminate health disparities;
- Encourage physical activity and healthy eating to lower the incidence of chronic disease;
- Foster safe and healthy communities;
- Improve behavioral health;
- Improve health care for people with disabilities;
- Increase access to quality health care;
- Increase cancer prevention and detection efforts;
- Prevent the spread of infectious diseases;
- Promote healthy aging; and
- Raise healthy children (Colliver, San Francisco Chronicle, 9/23).