Related Guides
Health
- HealthData.gov Site dedicated to making high value health data more accessible to entrepreneurs, researchers, and policy makers in the hopes of better health outcomes for all.
- Older Adults Health Data Collection (data.gov) The purpose of this data collection is to gather Federally-managed datasets relevant to the health of older adults in and outside the context of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Older adults reside at the intersection of key demographic and health challenges, including those resulting from the pandemic. Insights from data on the older adult population – before, during, and after COVID-19 – is also needed to better understand the impact of the pandemic on the health of this growing population segment.
- Health and Medical Care Archive (HMCA) The Health and Medical Care Archive (HMCA) is the data archive of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care in the United States. Operated by the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan with funding from RWJF, HMCA preserves and disseminates data collected by selected research projects funded by RWJF and facilitates secondary analyses of the data.
- City Health Dashboard 37 measures of health, the factors that shape health, and drivers of health equity to guide local solutions for U.S. cities. Search for health outcomes, social and economic factors, health behaviors, physical environment, (for example, lead exposure risk) and clinical care (for example, uninsured).
- PeriStats (March of Dimes) Provides access to to maternal and infant health-related data at the U.S., state, county, and city level. (March of Dimes)
- County Health Rankings & Roadmaps The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a program of the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, works to improve health outcomes for all and to close the health disparities between those with the most and least opportunities for good health.
- U.S. County Profiles (University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation) Provides county-level data on alcohol use, life expectancy at birth, smoking prevalence, obesity, physical activity, and poverty. (University of Washington, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation)
- USALEEP: The United States Small-Area Life Expectancy Project (National Association For Public Health Statistics and Information Systems: NAPHSIS) The United States Small-Area Life Expectancy Project (USALEEP) is the first public health outcome measure available nationwide at the census tract level—measuring life expectancy at birth for nearly every neighborhood in the country. USALEEP data provide unparalleled insights into community health and demonstrate that not everyone has the same opportunity to be healthy where they live.
- YRBSS: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (CDC.gov) Youth Online lets you analyze national, state, and local [school district] Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) data from high school and middle school surveys conducted during 1991 – 2019 and Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) data from students aged 13-17 conducted during 2003 – 2015.
- Black Progress Index (Brookings and NAACP) Predictors of life expectancy for Blacks in the United States, by county and metropolitan area. Available for Suffolk County and Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH.
- CDC Wonder CDC WONDER -- An easy-to-use, menu-driven system that makes the information resources of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) available to public health professionals and the public at large. It provides access to a wide array of public health information. Data is available down to the county level.
- Massachusetts Behavioral Health Boarding Metrics (Massachusetts Heatlh & Hospital Association) This report examines both weekly and trending data from Massachusetts acute care hospitals on the number of behavioral health patients who are waiting for a psychiatric evaluation or who have had an evaluation and are awaiting a bed.The information is further broken down by patient age and geographic region within the state.Boston Hospitals are in region 4C,
- Health of Boston Report (Boston Public Health Commission) Since 1996, the Health of Boston reports have been commissioned to provide information about the health of Boston residents. The purpose of these reports is to provide descriptive information about the health status and factors that influence the health of Boston residents.
- Public Health (Analyze Boston) Blue Bikes System Data, Hospital Locations, Big Belly Locations
- Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care (Dartmouth Atlas Project) The project uses Medicare and Medicaid data to provide information and analysis about national, regional, and local markets, as well as hospitals and their affiliated physicians.
- Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) CHIA collects detailed financial and patient-level data from Massachusetts payers and providers. Data submissions are normalized to ensure completeness and validity, enabling accurate cross-payer and cross-provider research and analyses. CHIA's rich data resources are available to state agencies, providers, payers, and health care researchers seeking data for health research in the public interest.
- Available Public Health Research Data Sets (mass.gov) The DPH maintains numerous public health databases that contain medical or personal information that is considered confidential under Massachusetts laws and regulations. These data are available to qualified public health researchers under certain circumstances described under Authorization for Public Health Research.
- Maternal Vulnerability (Surgo Ventures) Maternal Vulnerability Index and Maternal Mortality Ratio for US counties and state. Compare Suffolk county with other counties.
Environmental Health
- Massachusetts Environmental Public Health Tracking (MA Executive Office of Health and Human Services) A key feature of this website is that you can make tables, charts, and maps of environmental and health data for the community that you live in.
- Massachusetts Arbovirus Update (Mass.gov) Current Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and West Nile Virus (WNV) information in Massachusetts, with risk maps and risk levels for all MA cities and towns.
- MassAir Online (MA Department of Environmental Protection) The monitor colors on the map tell you how relatively clean or polluted the air is based on the pollutants monitored at that location, and what this might mean for your health. The ranges are the corresponding Air Quality Index values. If you click on the monitor icon on the map or the Table View you can see which pollutants are monitored and their levels.
Medicare
- Medicare Geographic Variation (CMS.gov) The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has developed a public use file that enables researchers and policymakers to evaluate trends in health care utilization and spending by geography for the Medicare fee-for-service population. The Geographic Variation Public Use File includes demographic, spending, utilization, and quality indicators at the state level (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands), hospital referral region (HRR) level, and county
- Mapping Medicare Disparities (CMS.gov) Contains health outcome measures for disease prevalence, costs, hospitalization for 60 specific chronic conditions, emergency department utilization, readmissions rates, mortality, preventable hospitalizations, and preventive services. Data available at trhe county level.
Diseases
- COVID-19 Interactive Data Dashboard: City & Town Data (mass.gov) The COVID-19 Daily Dashboard includes data on: city/town specific metrics; confirmed and probable cases; testing; age groups, race and ethnicity, and sex of cases; hospitalization demographic data, number of patients hospitalized who are vaccinated, and deaths; hospital capacity; clusters; isolation and quarantine; and contact tracing.
- Wastewater Reports: COVID-19 in Boston (City of Boston) Coronavirus waste water levels by Boston neighborhoods, collected twice weekly from manholes in Brighton, Back Bay, Charlestown, Dorchester, East Boston, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Roslindale, Roxbury, and South Boston.
- Massachusetts Cancer Registry (Mass.gov) The Massachusetts Cancer Registry (MCR) collects information on all newly diagnosed cases of cancer in the state. By county.
- Massachusetts Cancer Registry Cancer Incidence: City & Town Supplement (Mass.gov) The city/town series report provides standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) for 23 types of cancer in the 351 cities and towns of MA for a 5-year time period.
- Interactive Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke (CDC.gov) CDC’s Interactive Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke is an online mapping tool that allows users to create and customize county-level maps of heart disease and stroke by race and ethnicity, gender, age group, and more.
- United States Diabetes Surveillance System (CDC.gov) Interactive tool to view maps and charts of diabetes data and trends at the U.S. state and county level.
Featured Article on Boston and Public Health Data
- GeoJournal 83, no. 4 (2018) (SpringerNature) Sedentary behavior and lack of physical activity are key modifiable behavioral risk factors for chronic health problems, such as obesity and diabetes. Little is known about how sedentary behavior and physical activity among adolescents spatially cluster. The objective was to detect spatial clustering of sedentary behavior and physical activity among Boston adolescents. Data were used from the 2008 Boston Youth Survey Geospatial Dataset, a sample of public high school students who responded to a sedentary behavior and physical activity questionnaire.
