About this chart
This is the interactive version of the manuscript's burden-readiness
decision space. Each dot is one census tract in the
workforce-constrained county pool, placed by digital readiness
(Digital Divide Index, x axis) and cardiometabolic burden (composite
z score, y axis).
The classification
The pool holds counties with no cardiologist in 2023 or a declining
number of cardiologists per 100,000 residents over 2010 to 2023.
Within it, two anchored cuts form a two-by-two matrix:
high burden : burden z > 0 (national mean)
higher readiness : DDI ≤ 18.8 (national median)
DEPLOYMENT PRIORITY = high burden AND higher readiness
INVESTMENT PRIORITY = high burden AND lower readiness
Ranks come from a priority score: burden and DDI are standardized
within the pool, then combined as burden minus DDI for deployment
priority and burden plus DDI for investment priority. These labels
indicate relative priorities under the chosen thresholds. They do not
establish readiness for any specific intervention.
The burden composite
Ten conditions and risk factors from CDC PLACES (hypertension, high
cholesterol, coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity,
smoking, physical inactivity, short sleep, binge drinking), averaged
across the 2022 and 2023 releases, standardized across tracts, and
averaged into one z score.
Kentucky and Pennsylvania
CDC suppressed nine of the ten measures at the tract level in these
two states, so their burden score rests on short sleep alone. Their
tracts keep group membership and count toward the national totals,
but they are not plotted here and are excluded from the ranked
lists.
Using the chart
Hover any dot for a mini profile; click it for the full tract panel.
The legend chips show or hide each group. The Highlight control
spotlights the 10, 50, or 100 leading tracts in each group. View as
table lists the same leading tracts as a ranked, keyboard-friendly
table.
Robustness
The manuscript tests this framework in eight sensitivity analyses,
spanning alternative readiness measures, workforce definitions,
thresholds, and a geographic access credit. Classifications were
broadly stable; a six-indicator readiness index placed tracts in the
same group about 93% of the time.
Data sources and accessibility
HRSA Area Health Resources Files (2010-2023), CDC PLACES (2022-2023
releases), and the Purdue Digital Divide Index (2022-2024, built from
ACS and FCC data). Both dashboards were designed to meet WCAG 2.1
Level AA. The companion county atlas maps every
view at county and tract level.