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NORC at the University Chicago

Mapping Medicare Disparities Tool

Senior friends talking outdoors
Visualizing chronic condition patterns in Medicare data across the United States
  • Client
    Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
  • Dates
    June 2025 – Present

Problem

Differences in chronic conditions remain widespread, but the data needed to address them is often hard to access and interpret.

Despite decades of research and policy efforts, differences in chronic conditions, access to care, and health care utilization persist across population groups. While data to understand these differences exists, it is often complex and fragmented, making it difficult for decision-makers to use it effectively. 

Solution

NORC is helping to modernize an interactive tool that makes complex health data accessible and actionable.

NORC is partnering with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to modernize the Mapping Medicare Disparities (MMD) Tool, a public-facing platform that allows users to explore differences in health outcomes, service use, and spending across populations and geographies. The tool transforms large datasets into intuitive maps and charts, helping users identify where differences exist and how they vary by demographic characteristics.

NORC’s work includes improving the tool’s usability, streamlining its data architecture, enhancing visualizations, and expanding data access through a public API. These updates are designed to make the tool more flexible, scalable, and user-friendly for a wide range of stakeholders.

Result

Our work will contribute to a clearer view of differences in chronic conditions to support data-informed decision-making.

The MMD Tool will equip CMS staff, policymakers, researchers, health care providers, and community organizations with the insights they need to understand and address differences in health and health care in their communities. By making this information more accessible and easier to use, the tool supports CMS’s broader goals of transparency, and data-driven policy.

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