Philadelphia Health Equity Dashboard

16 topic areas were identified based on the 2019 Philadelphia Community Health Needs Assessment and input from stakeholders. For each topic area, we identified 2-3 metrics to track progress over time by race/ethnicity or neighborhood depending on publicly available data. You can find the updated 2022 Assessment here.

Selected metrics may change over time. Sources can be found below.

Behavioral Health

Cardiovascular Health

Maternal & Infant Health

Racial Disparities in Low Birth Weight in Philadelphia

Neighborhood Conditions

Neighborhood Disparities Life Expectancy

Obesity & Diabetes

Primary Care Access

Racism & Discrimination in Healthcare

Racism and Discrimination in Health Care Settings

Socioeconomic Disadvantage

Specialty Care Access

Patients using Medicaid wait 5x longer to see an oncologist than patients using private insurance

Substance Use & Abuse

Note: Data is missing for some racial groups for certain dashboard metrics due to small sample sizes.

Sources (listed alphabetically by title):

Access to Primary & Preventive Care: Drexel Urban Health Collaborative. (2019). Close to home: The health of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods.
Access to Specialty Care: Bhavaraju, N., Nanni, J., Carlson, C., Sholk, J., Peterson, K., & Smith, L.A. (2016). Breaking the barriers to specialty care: Practical ideas to improve health equity and reduce cost. FSG.
Behavioral Health: Carroll-Scott, A., Lê-Scherban, F., Kelly, M.K., Verdecias, N., Weckesser, S. (2018). Current state of behavioral health in Philadelphia. Drexel University Urban Health Collaborative.
Cardiovascular Health: Vital Statistics for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Department of Health (2014). Accessed via the City of Philadelphia Community Health Explorer.
Colorectal Cancer Screening & Outcomes: Drexel University Urban Health Collective, Fox Chase Cancer Center, & Philadelphia Department of Public Health. (2020). The state of cancer in Philadelphia.
Community Violence: Medical Examiner’s Office, Philadelphia Department of Public Health (2016). Accessed via the City of Philadelphia Community Health Explorer.
COVID-19: OpenDataPhilly. (n.d.). COVID deaths. Accessed July 22, 2021. | OpenDataPhilly. (n.d.). COVID hospitalizations. Accessed July 22, 2021.
Food Access & Affordability: Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) Household Health Survey (2014/15). Accessed via the City of Philadelphia Community Health Explorer.
Housing Access & Affordability: The PEW Charitable Trusts. (2021). Philadelphia 2021: State of the city.
Maternal & Infant Mortality / Morbidity: University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. (n.d.). County health rankings and roadmaps. Health Outcomes: Low Birthweight. Accessed July 22, 2021.
Neighborhood Conditions & Community: Virginia Commonwealth University. (n.d.). Philadelphia life expectancy methodology and data table. Center on Society and Health.
Obesity & Diabetes: Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) Household Health Survey (2014/15). Accessed via the City of Philadelphia Community Health Explorer.
Racism & Discrimination in Healthcare Settings: Williams, D.R. (2021) Why Discrimination is a Health Issue. Culture of Health Blog. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Socioeconomic Disadvantage: University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. (n.d.). County health rankings and roadmaps. Health Factors: Children in Poverty. Accessed July 22, 2021.
Substance Use & Abuse: Khatri, U. G., Pizzicato, L. N., Viner, K., Bobyock, E., Sun, M., Meisel, Z. F., & South, E. C. (2021). Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Unintentional Fatal and Nonfatal Emergency Medical Services–Attended Opioid Overdoses During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Philadelphia. JAMA Network Open, 4(1), e2034878.