Compound Signal
Heat-Dialysis Vulnerability
Extreme heat exposure × Dialysis-dependent population
50 counties are firing this signal at the elevated threshold (≥70/100) right now.
What it measures
Anchored on Taiwan NHIRD findings (5.3× CKD heat-hospitalization rate, 9× ESRD heat-stroke mortality). Pairs summer heat with HHS emPOWER dialysis-dependent Medicare beneficiaries and CDC PLACES chronic-kidney-disease prevalence to surface counties where outage- or transport-disrupted dialysis sessions become medically critical fastest.
Component breakdown
Each component is independently percentile-ranked against all US counties (0–100), then blended into the final signal score using the weights below.
| Component | Weight | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Avg summer max temperature | 40% | NOAA ACIS |
| Dialysis-dependent Medicare beneficiaries (per 1k) | 35% | HHS emPOWER |
| Chronic kidney disease prevalence | 25% | CDC PLACES |
Evidence base
ESRD patients on dialysis cannot tolerate missed sessions — fluid overload, hyperkalemia, and uremic complications progress within hours when the dialysis chair is unavailable. Heat amplifies the risk: the Taiwan NHIRD cohort showed 9× higher heat-stroke mortality among ESRD patients compared with the general population. HHS emPOWER counts between 1 and 10 are masked to literal 11 for beneficiary privacy; per-1,000 rates derived from the masked counts respect the same floor.
Lin et al, Taiwan NHIRD
Lin YK, Maharani AT, Chang FT, Wang YC. Mortality and morbidity associated with ambient temperatures in Taiwan. Sci Total Environ. 2019;651(Pt 1):210-217.
HHS emPOWER
HHS emPOWER Map — at-risk-population locator publishing monthly county-level counts of electricity-dependent Medicare beneficiaries.
Counties firing this signal
Top 50 counties at the elevated threshold (70/100) or above, sorted by score. Click any county for the full profile.
Related service line: renal. The platform tool exposes per-county service-line opportunity scores on Pro, Studio, and Enterprise tiers.
Methodology
Every Compound Signal on this platform is a versioned, weighted composite published transparently. See the full methodology — every weight, every threshold, every data source — on the methodology page.
View full methodology →