We conduct 8 community health needs assessments for the Coalition of Western MA Hospitals and Insurers. These assessments guide a wide range of priorities such as reducing substance use or strengthening maternal and child health. We use the tool to pull demographic data and information on chronic illness and mental health to help contextualize these focus areas.
Before the Massachusetts Health Data Tool, staff spent a lot of time gathering data manually. Because hospital service areas don’t align with county boundaries, they had to pull data town by town but now, with the tool, we can view data across towns in one place, which saves an enormous amount of time.