HHS launches GIS-based tool for health disaster readiness
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) launched HHS emPOWER Map, an interactive online tool that aims to aid community health agencies and emergency management officials in disaster preparedness as they plan ahead to meet the emergency needs of community residents who rely on electrically powered medical and assistive equipment to live independently at home.
“For people who rely on electricity-dependent medical equipment, prolonged power outages can mean life or death,” said Nicole Lurie, MD, HHS’ assistant secretary for preparedness and response, in a release. “This tool helps communities better anticipate, plan for and respond to these unique needs of this population and improve resilience for the entire community before and after disasters.”
More than 1.6 million Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries nationwide rely on electricity-dependent medical and assistive equipment, such as oxygen concentrators, ventilators and wheelchairs.
The HHS emPOWER Map shows the monthly total number of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries’ claims for electricity-dependent equipment at the national, state, territory, county and zip code levels. The tool incorporates these data with real-time severe weather tracking services from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in a Geographic Information System (GIS).
The integrated data accessible through the HHS emPOWER Map can help community organizations, including hospitals, first responders and electric utility officials, work with health officials to prevent health impacts of prolonged power outages due to storms and other disasters on vulnerable residents.
For example, the HHS emPOWER Map could be used by electric utility companies to determine priority areas for restoring electrical service based on the location of the largest concentrations of electricity-dependent individuals. This could assist hospitals, health care coalitions and Emergency Medical Services in planning better for surges in medical services.
While the information in the HHS emPOWER Map is presented in a way that protects patient privacy, in an emergency, additional information can be made available to a health department to facilitate life-saving emergency response in a manner consistent with the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act and the Federal Privacy Act.
The HHS emPOWER Map was developed collaboratively by ASPR and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.