VisualCalc Announces Free Health Care Dashboards for PublicDashboards.com

Jan. 13, 2010 - PRLog -- El Dorado Hills, Calif. - VisualCalc, a provider of web-based analysis software and the creator of PublicDashboards.com (http://www.publicdashboards.com), today announced the introduction of a set of free dashboards – Health Care Dashboards - focused on the state of the U.S. health care system. These Health Care Dashboards can be found at the following link: www.publicdashboards.com/healthcare.htm.

The Health Care Dashboards feature a set of graphical, interactive charts and graphs focused on current U.S. health care issues and trends. These dashboards contain easy-to-understand graphs and charts - called “indicators” - that help the public easily decipher some of the background data related to the health care reform discussions and debates dominating our news.

These dashboards do not take a position with respect to the “right” path to health care reform. Instead, they simply organize publicly available data in a set of interactive, visually engaging dashboards the help clarify the current state of our health care system.

A set of five dashboards are currently featured on Health Care Dashboards:

•   National Health Expenditures
•   Insurance Costs
•   International Comparison
•   Current Consequences
•   Future Cost Projections

These Health Care Dashboards help highlight surprising trends and statistics associated with the current U.S. health care system, including:

•   National health expenditures increased from $27.5 Billion (5.2% of the GDP) in 1960 to $2.3 Trillion (16.2% of the GDP) in 2008.

•   Between 2000 and 2009, the cumulative percentage increase in health insurance premiums was 131%, compared to a 38% increase in workers’ earnings and a 28% increase in inflation.

•   Health insurance administrative costs increased from $90 per covered person in 1986 to $482 per covered person in 2007.

•   Healthcare-related spending in the U.S. is approximately 15.2% of the GDP. In comparison, this number is 7.8% in the U.K,, 9.7% in Canada, and 8% in Japan.

•   Using 1999-2009 growth rates, average health insurance premiums for family coverage are expected to increase from $13,375 in 2009 to $30,803 by 2018.

“Health care reform is front and center in today’s news, and these Health Care Dashboards help the public understand the issues at the core of this debate,” said Amit Mazumdar, CEO of VisualCalc. “Increasing the overall knowledge of the public will help ensure more productive, educated discussions on this important topic.”

These new Health Care Dashboards will be incorporated in VisualCalc’s public dashboard website: PublicDashboards.com. PublicDashboards.com contains a set of interactive online dashboards covering a variety of topical issues grouped into six categories: the economy, education, the environment, health & fitness, health care, and politics & society. PublicDashboards.com organizes detailed, complex data related to these issues into interactive, easy-to-use charts and graphs called indicators. These visual indicators help users identify trends or issues that might otherwise go undetected. In addition, these indicators enable users to perform deeper analysis into the underlying data. With a simple point-and-click, users can filter and drill-down into the indicators to customize their view of the data.

Organizations that track or communicate information related to any of these topics – including public or commercial websites and online or print media – are welcome to include links to these public dashboards on their websites. These links can be found on the PublicDashboards.com website.

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About VisualCalc
VisualCalc (http://www.visualcalc.com) provides easy, affordable web-based analysis software that helps companies of all sizes grow and manage their business. VisualCalc’s unique combination of technology and expertise helps consumers and businesses alike analyze complex data quickly and easily, resulting in better, faster decisions. VisualCalc’s analysis software includes two categories of products: 1) VisualCalc Online Calculators, which companies provide to their customers to help them quickly and easily evaluate their products and services, and 2) VisualCalc Management Dashboards, which help companies monitor and manage their business. VisualCalc is also the creator of PublicDashboards.com, a free website containing public dashboards focused on today’s most topical issues. VisualCalc is a privately held company headquartered in El Dorado Hills, California.