Making healthcare access visible for every American
People only discover they live in a healthcare desert after a medical emergency. CartoChrome changes that -- one score, one map, one answer to "How good is healthcare where I live?"
ZIP codes scored
Provider profiles
Healthcare facilities
Public data sources
Condition scores
Academic papers cited
The Problem
Healthcare access is invisible. There is no simple score for healthcare access, no single source for medical care quality. Over 80 million Americans live in federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas -- and most of them don't know it. Source: HRSA Bureau of Health Workforce, 2024
- No way to compare ZIP codes by healthcare quality
- Existing tools show only providers OR facilities, never both
- County-level data misses neighborhood-scale disparities
- Social barriers (poverty, no car, no insurance) aren't factored in
Our Solution
CartoChrome computes a 0-100 Healthcare Access Score for every ZIP code using the E2SFCA method -- the academic gold standard. The score combines 8 healthcare dimensions with social determinant penalties, displayed on an interactive choropleth map.
- ZIP-level granularity (33K scores, not 3.2K counties)
- 8-component scoring: primary care to dental to telehealth
- SDOH penalty: insurance, transport, poverty, disability
- 4M providers + 85K facilities in one searchable index
How We're Different
No competitor combines all of these at ZIP-code granularity
| Dimension | CartoChrome | Others |
|---|---|---|
| Granularity | ZIP-level (33K granularity) | County-level (3.2K) or state-level (50) |
| Methodology | 8-component E2SFCA with SDOH | Simple provider counts or star ratings |
| Data breadth | 4M providers + 85K facilities + census | Providers OR facilities, not both |
| Visualization | Interactive choropleth map | Static tables or lists |
| Data freshness | 21 free public sources, auto-updated | Proprietary data, annual updates |
| Distribution | Free API + embeddable widget | PDF reports or paywalled access |
What We Believe
Six principles that guide every decision we make
Transparency First
Every data source is public. Every formula is documented. Every score can be explained. We publish our full methodology so anyone can verify our work.
Academic Rigor
Our scoring uses E2SFCA -- the peer-reviewed gold standard for spatial accessibility. Not a proprietary black box. Not a marketing gimmick. Real science.
Fully Automated
21 data sources update automatically on weekly, monthly, and quarterly schedules. Zero manual work. Zero stale data. The scores reflect reality, not a snapshot from years ago.
Penalty-Only SDOH
Good social determinants cannot inflate a score where providers don't exist. Wealth doesn't create doctors. Our SDOH modifier can only reduce a score, never artificially boost it.
Universal Coverage
Every populated ZIP code in America. Not just major metros. Not just states with good data. Every community deserves to know their healthcare access reality.
Free Public Data Only
We use zero paid data sources, zero proprietary databases, zero Data Use Agreements. Everything is reproducible from free government APIs by anyone with the technical skill.
How We Built It
From academic research to a live platform serving millions of pages
Analyzed 99 academic papers on healthcare access, identified E2SFCA as the gold standard methodology
Mapped all 21 free public data sources -- from CMS NPPES (4M providers) to Census ACS (demographics for every ZIP)
Built the 8-component scoring engine with component-specific decay functions, SDOH penalty, and telehealth modifier
Launched the interactive choropleth map with 33K ZIP scores, 4M provider profiles, and 85K facility pages
Opened the public API and embeddable widget so real estate sites, health systems, and researchers can integrate the score
Grounded in Research
Our methodology is built on peer-reviewed academic work, not marketing claims
99
Academic papers in our research library
36
Papers cited directly in the scoring algorithm
10
Health domains covered in the research
Spanning: neighborhood access, mental health, rural care, surgery, cancer, veteran health, women's health, emergency/trauma, heart disease, diabetes, and more.
See the data for yourself
Search any ZIP code, explore the map, compare neighborhoods. The score is free, open, and waiting for you.