A practical tool for community-oriented primary care community diagnosis using a personal computer

Background and Objectives: Community-oriented primary care (COPC) is considered an attractive concept by many but has had limited implementation due to a lack of practical methodology. An important step in COPC is assessment of a community's health status, using health indicators as one means of assessment. Currently, there is no easy way to combine these indicators and examine their distribution over a community. This study analyzed a process for doing that by using a personal computer. Methods: For the community studied, all available community-based health indicators were identified. A process for combining these indicators, using commonly available database and spreadsheet software, was developed and analyzed for cost, clinical utility, and problems encountered. Results: Problems were encountered with collecting and combining some data, but a clinically useful tool was produced. Costs, including purchase of all software (with mapping software), were $1,500-$2,000. Conclusions: With efforts to reduce the initial costs, this is a practical and clinically useful tool for viewing the geographic distribution of community health indicators. Such practical methodology is essential for COPC development.