The Dartmouth Atlas Project has launched an innovative new Web site to provide an easy way for policymakers, health care analysts, media and the public find data and resources that document variations in how medical resources are distributed and used in the United States.

The Atlas Web site incorporates 25 million data points about national, regional and local health care markets, as well as individual hospitals and their affiliated physicians, which rwjf.org will use to create interactive maps and features. it will include:

• Easy access to the Atlas’ extensive database, allowing users to create custom maps, trend reports, charts and tables that can be downloaded and used in reports and presentations.
• Search functionality to conduct comparative analysis of profiles of hospitals, primary care service areas, hospital service areas, hospital referral areas and states.
• A “key issues” section to highlight research themes such as Medicare spending, supply-sensitive care, preference-sensitive care, the physician workforce, end-of-life care, racial disparities, accountable care organizations and more.

It also features case studies on how Atlas data has been used by other researchers and groups, and the ability to browse through 14 years of archived media coverage.

Visit the new Web site, www.dartmouthatlas.org.