Report From Esri User Conference 2015

The Esri International User Conference takes place each summer in San Diego, California. The HealthLandscape application is built on the esri ArcGIS platform, so we regularly attend the conference to discuss our work and to stay current in esri technology and trends. It’s a great opportunity to mingle with other data geeks, learn some new tips and tricks, and see what kinds of new and exciting projects our peers are working on. As always, the agenda was packed full of interesting sessions, educational opportunities, and user group meetings.

This year, I had the opportunity to present two moderated session papers on behalf of the team. Both presentations discussed the importance of looking at patients in the context of their home communities, but from two very different perspectives; public health research and individual practitioners.

Accelerating Data Value Across a National CHC Network introduced the new HealthLandscape Geocode API, which allows organizations to append community and social determinants data to patient-level data: giving them a unique way to enrich their investigations of patient-centered outcomes. Appending these types of data will allow for the exploration of clinical and disease-oriented service areas, hotspots, and coldspots. The Community Context of Health Center Patients focused on how we can use population-based big data and geospatial technologies to understand the social and environmental influences on the health of a physician’s patient panel through the idea of Community Vital Signs - as patient vital signs provide a biometric snapshot of an individual’s health status, community vital signs provide an environmental health perspective. Taken together, we can improve the care that patients are receiving. Both of these projects will be featured as detailed blog posts in the coming weeks.

In addition to our paper presentations, HealthLandscape was once again recognized as one of the top three GIS applications in the User Conference Applications Fair. The HealthLandscape Population Health Mapper builds upon the idea of “Place Matters,” a concept discussed in a recent blog. Users can select county-level metrics from seven categories identified by the CDC as recommended Health Outcomes and Health Determinants, using a slider bar to set thresholds and easily identify counties that perform poorly compared to the national average. We've highlighted this tool on the blog and will be hosting a “Population Health Mapper” webinar on Wednesday, August 19th. Click here to register, or contact us by email for more information.

I always enjoy the time that I spend at the Esri User Conference and I never fail to return home with new collaboration opportunities, new skills, and new ideas. I’m thrilled to take home another HealthLandscape award this year, too.

Jené Grandmont
Senior Manager, Application Development and Data Services
HealthLandscape