Findings from AHI’s Regional Data Survey
In February 2025, Adirondack Health Institute (AHI) surveyed our partners about their use of, and need for, population health and community resource information and data. We surveyed 95 individuals at 88 agencies, including CBOs, health care provider organizations, and other community partners in the North Country. Over the last few months, we have analyzed the feedback, identified themes, and established our next steps. Now, we want to share these results and findings with our partners.
Survey Response
Individuals from 40 different agencies completed the survey, giving us an impressive 45% response rate (thank you to those of you who participated!). These agencies service 10+ regional counties and represent a variety of organization types that are fairly evenly distributed between community-based service providers (52.4%, this includes community-based services organizations, offices for the aging, human services agencies, etc.) and health care providers (47.6%, this includes independent clinical providers, behavioral health providers, and care management agencies).
Insights
Our analysis of the compiled feedback led us to identify six separate insights about how our region’s organizations use and need population health and community resource information/data.
1) There Is Strong Overall Interest in Regional Data
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This includes interest in both population health and community-based services data, with over 90% of respondents indicating their organization either currently uses, or has a need for, these types of information.
- Interest is consistent for both community-based service providers (CSPs) and health care providers (HCPs).
2) Data Uses and Types are Aligned Across the Region but Tailored by Organization Type
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Needs Assessment and Planning was the most common reported use of population health data – 86.8% of all respondents reported as a current or needed use of information.
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SDOH/HRSN Prevalence was the most common reported type of used or needed population health data – 100% of all respondents reported it as a current or needed type of information.
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Secondary Focus Areas
- CSPs – Population health data relevant to generating grant applications and understanding available community resources.
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HCPs – Population health data that informs benchmarking and understanding service utilization trends.
3) Data Source Interest Varies by Organization Type
- CSPs are generally more interested in local/state data (Census Bureau, County Rankings, NYS).
- HCPs lean more toward national data sets (CMS, CDC).
4) There is a Need for Versatile Presentation Tools
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Alignment: All organizations are interested in having access to visual data summaries, particularly charts (61.9%) and tables (65.8%).
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Secondary Tailoring: CSPs have more interest in having text summaries (81.0%), while HCPs have more interest in dashboard presentations (70.6%).
5) The Organizational Value of, and Barriers to, Data Analytics were Clearly Identified
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Value: Data analytics were reported as highly valued across all organizations, with 76.2% of respondents reporting analytics as extremely or very valuable.
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Barriers: The top barriers to accessing data and/or using data analytics were consistent across organization types:
- Limited Staff Capacity (71.4%)
- Limited Funding (50.0%)
- Limited training/skills (40.5%)
- Limited knowledge (38.1%)
6) There is a High Willingness to Consider Using a Centralized Data Repository, but Cost Sensitivity Exists
- Interest in Centralized Data
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90.5% of respondents reported an interest in an AHI-maintained community-based services resource.
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95.2% of respondents reported an interest in a (general) centralized regional data repository.
- Would Consider Paying for Data Analytics Services
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40.5% of respondents reported that they would be willing to pay for analytics.
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47.6% of respondents reported that they cannot afford to pay for analytics.
Next Steps
Based on this great feedback and the resulting insights, AHI has embarked on a Phase 1 Population Health Data Hub Pilot Project.
This internal project will involve: 1. Identification of high value population health data elements; 2. Development of database infrastructure; 3. Integration of the initial data sources into the database infrastructure; and 4. Testing of the population health database with an inactive grant application. Once this is complete, we hope to move into a Phase 2 pilot, testing the database with an external partner.
If your organization is interested in participating in our Phase 2 pilot, please reach out to Laura Morris at lmorris@ahihealth.org.
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