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Health Care Stories

Minnesota Community Measurement

CASE STUDY: MN HealthScores

CHALLENGES: Dedicated to accelerating the improvement of health by publicly reporting health care information, Minnesota Community Measurement (MNCM) faced critical issues relating to the usability and consumer engagement of their Web site. Among the key challenges: designing a more intuitive user interface, making data easy to filter, sort and compare, populating the site with data from a central portal, providing a method to allow the client to manage site content, and anticipating future growth.

WOWZA SOLUTIONS: Wowza redesigned MNCM's Web site, www.MNHealthScores.org, by creating an intuitive front-end design, based on common Web-based data reporting conventions. The design connects all the data, making it easier for consumers to narrow their selections, make comparisons, and locate information on specific providers. By branding the site with a consumer-friendly brand identity (MN HealthScores) and simplifying the user interface, Wowza was able to make the site less intimidating and easier for consumers to use. Since MNCM already used a central data portal to collect the data, Wowza collaborated with MNCM'S portal vendor to pull XML feeds to populate the Web site with current and accurate data. This function allows the staff at Minnesota Community Measurement to control all the data and keep the site current. With the modularity of the design, centralized data, and a simplified interface, MN HealthScores is now more scalable, flexible and usable.

RESULTS: Minnesota Community Measurement's site has received enthusiastic responses from health care quality professionals across the country. The scalability has already allowed for the implementation of new data into the user interface, and the flexibility of the design and content management system will save MNCM time and money as they continue to expand their public reporting efforts and refine the presentation of the data.