The Department of Health and Human Services has partnered with the University of Maryland to create a tool for visualizing the costs of healthcare.
As the healthcare debate rages on in Congress, there are sectors of the American public that appear to be somewhat misinformed about healthcare. The cost of coverage is exploding for both individuals and businesses, but quality and effectiveness of care is not necessarily following suit. This is further complicated by the fact that costs are rising in some places much faster than others.
The Department of Health and Human Services is interested in employing visualization to try to attack both of these problems at once. The primary goals of the visualization tool are:
* Allow the average citizen to visualize health performance, quality, and cost indicators for his/her town
* Allow the average citizen to compare his/her town to other towns in the United States or in their region in key performance/cost indicators
* Spur mayors/citizens to take action to improve the quality and costs of healthcare
via U.S. Healthcare Quality & Cost Visualization – CMSC734_09.
