The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a new online tool that will help local community health agencies, including home health, meet the emergency needs of Medicare beneficiaries who rely on electrically powered medical and assistive equipment.
 
The HHS emPOWER Map shows the monthly total number of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries’ claims for electricity-dependent equipment at the national, state, territory, county and zip code levels, according to an HHS press release. The tool incorporates these data with real-time severe weather tracking services from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
 
The tool is designed, in part, to assist hospitals, health care coalitions, emergency responders and health providers in planning better for surges in medical services, HHS says.
 
More than 1.6 million Medicare beneficiaries nationwide rely on devices like oxygen concentrators, ventilators and wheelchairs.