Make The Most Of Your Community Health Improvement Efforts

Updated exploreMOhealth platform helps stakeholders understand and improve health locally 

The care environment is downstream of health. Where we live, work, learn and play all have a huge impact on our health. 

The more stakeholders know about the factors that influence health, the better hospitals and health systems — and their partners in public health and community-based organizations — can identify, manage and mitigate them.  

Resources for health improvement are often constrained. Data, including the robust ZIP code-level access to community health insights available on exploremohealth.org, can shape stakeholders’ investments and maximize the value of community and public health initiatives.  

In concert with National Public Health Week, the Missouri Hospital Association refreshed exploreMOhealth as of April 8. 

What is exploreMOhealth? 

Launched in 2018 with support from MHA, exploreMOhealth is a community data platform created to provide ZIP code-level rankings across major health behaviors and health outcomes to illuminate high-risk communities at the subcounty level.  

The platform features demographic data from the U.S. census and hospital discharge data specific to Missouri. The county-level health indicators are provided by County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. The ZIP code-level data are provided by the Hospital Industry Data Institute and Washington University School of Medicine through the Missouri ZIP Health Rankings Project. 

The ZIP code-level data included in the most recent updates on the exploreMOhealth platform are based on hospital discharges that occurred between fiscal years 2022 and 2024 (Oct. 1, 2021, through Sept. 30, 2024), and the 2023 American Community Survey of the U.S. census. 

These free, publicly available resources on exploreMOhealth are intended to help communities, hospitals, public health officials and other stakeholders identify local health needs by ZIP code or county, and to develop health needs assessments and actionable plans to improve public health. Data is the key to diagnosing and addressing the most pressing health issues. 

How hospitals can use exploreMOhealth 

With the detailed data available on the exploreMOhealth platform, hospital and health care leaders and providers can make informed decisions about serving their communities. 

The platform allows hospitals to develop comprehensive and customized community health needs assessments and offers summaries of leading health factors in different-sized communities through reports, such as the Chronic Condition Explorer, Missouri Health Atlas and Spotlight on ZIP Health. 

“Most of the hospitals that use exploreMOhealth are able to identify where gaps exist at a ZIP code level in the communities they serve and opportunities to close those gaps, using the power of data,” said Stephen Njenga, MHA’s director of quality measurement and population health improvement. 

Njenga added that this detailed level of information helps care providers target scarce resources where they are needed the most as opposed to implementing a blanket approach, hoping that it will work for the entire service area. 

Changes to exploreMOhealth for 2025 

In addition to new data, the site also has a refreshed look, along with some notable changes made to this year’s measurements and methodologies. 

The 2025 update to the Zip Health Rankings includes changes that improve accuracy and align with national standards. 

• Health Factor Domain, Clinical Care Subdomain: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s five Prevention Quality Indicators for emergency department settings replaced an outdated New York University algorithm for defining potentially avoidable emergency department utilization. 

• Health Outcome Domain, Quality of Life Subdomain: Anemia; anxiety disorders; atrial fibrillation; depression, bipolar or other depressive mood disorders; fibromyalgia and chronic pain and fatigue; hyperlipidemia; and hypothyroidism were added to the 20 most prevalent conditions in Missouri defined using the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Chronic Condition Warehouse, as well as two standalone cancers — endometrial and prostate cancers — not previously included. Additionally, a new measure combines visits for anxiety, depression and inpatient mental health diagnoses. 

• Multiple Domains and Subdomains: Many measures were updated to align with CMS Chronic Condition Warehouse  and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Clinical Classifications Software-Refined, replacing older definitions. 

In addition, County Health Rankings & Roadmaps switched from a county rankings approach to a grouping approach in 2024. Counties now are assigned to one of 10 groups for the health outcome and health factors domains.  

The exploreMOhealth platform is available to anyone with an interest in community health at no cost thanks to funding from HIDI and the MHA Health Institute. Setting up an optional account allows users to customize their experience by saving geographic areas, health indicators, customized reports and other features. 

To learn more about exploreMOhealth, visit the FAQ page, or you can email questions to exploreMOhealth@mhanet.com.