14 DAY TRIAL // Believe it or not, but it’s not always “healthy” to turn to search engines for medical information, to the detriment of real physicians, since not all sources of info can be trusted. Still, there are exceptions to this rule, and the latest Cloud application from Bing Maps is an excellent example in this regard. Microsoft has worked not only to increase the quality of information, but also to make sure that valuable and trusted sources are leveraged when Bing answers user queries. And, together with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Institute of Medicine, the Redmond company is taking it one step further, making available the new Bing Health Maps application to users.
Bing Health Maps is a result of the company’s participation in the Community Health Data Initiative, and an app designed to offer a new perspective on health levels across the US. Essentially, Bing Maps’ new health application enables users to visualize the health metrics of a range of US communities. And in addition to overlaying health data onto Bing Maps, Alain Rappaport, from the Bing Health team, revealed that the app could also do more. “We’re taking this a step further and enabling the ability to overlay additional map apps that you might be using to making other decisions,” Rappaport stated.
“Bing Health Maps is very straightforward to use - (1) Select a state and, (2) Select a Community Health Indicator. The map will re-center on the respective state and color-code the counties within that state based on unit-based reporting. You can select health indicators such as Birth Indicators (low birth weight, premature births, births to women under 18, etc.); Death Measures (homicide, lung cancer, stroke, etc.) or Health Risk Factors (obesity, smokers, high blood pressure, etc.). If the opacity doesn’t suit your fancy there’s a slider to increase or decrease it,” Chris Pendleton, the Bing Maps technical evangelist for Microsoft, explained.
Through the overlaying of health data onto Bing Maps, the application allows users to get a complex perspective on specific areas of the US in terms of medical statistics. Bing Health Maps provides a way for health statistics related to location to be quickly and easily understood.
“We’re thrilled to support HHS and the Institute of Medicine in making health information more accessible and meaningful to help people make healthier decisions. This is just the beginning; imagine what could be done with more data and more ways to access and make sense of it. We’re excited about the opportunity and are committed to promoting healthier decision making,” Rappaport added.
