How Parkview Health Is Tackling Rural Cancer Disparities
We recently hosted a webinar with Amelia Roebuck (Research Scientist, Parkview Health Services and Informatics Research), Kerri Mattern (Leader, Community Health Initiatives, Parkview Wabash Hospital), and Metopio’s COO and co-founder, Angie Grover, on how solid data infrastructure can fuel coordinated action across organizations. Here's what was shared.
The Puzzle: Access ≠ Utilization
When Parkview Health analyzed their 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment data, something unexpected surfaced in a number of their rural counties: cancer was suddenly a top health concern — a dramatic shift from previous assessments, which had often prioritized obesity and mental health.
But the data told a more complex story than that headline alone.
Looking at mortality, incidence, and screening rates side by side, the team noticed a troubling pattern: In several rural counties across their health system, cancer mortality rates were disproportionately high compared to cancer incidence.
Even more striking, many of those same counties had lower screening utilization rates for breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer, despite having hospitals and screening resources readily available.
The insight was critical: healthcare access and healthcare utilization are not the same thing.
Why the Data Mattered, and Why Integration Was Key
Here's where Parkview's approach diverged from a typical CHNA process. Rather than stopping at identifying a problem, they asked the harder question: What does this data pattern actually tell us?
By layering multiple data sources together — mortality data, incidence rates, screening metrics, demographic information, geographic patterns, and social drivers of health — they moved from isolated statistics to a genuine understanding of what was happening in their counties.
The picture that emerged pointed to potential gaps in early detection, access to preventive care, timely diagnosis, and treatment engagement. But it also revealed something equally important: the barriers that existed even when resources were available.
Transportation challenges, workforce shortages, health literacy, financial concerns, cultural perceptions, trust, and competing social needs all contribute to whether someone actually shows up for a mammogram or colorectal screening. Data alone can't measure those factors — but integrated, contextualized data can point you toward where to look.
From Data to Coalition: Parkview's Wabash County Model
The real magic is what happened next. Armed with evidence that Wabash County had the highest overall, colorectal, prostate, and breast cancer mortality rates in their system paired with the lowest mammography screening rates, Parkview Wabash's leadership made the bold decision to form a community cancer coalition.
Rather than trying to solve the problem from the hospital alone, they convened a diverse group representing everything from the Mayor's office to the county health department, the Tobacco Coalition, the community foundation, transportation providers, nutrition specialists, a retired surgeon, and even the YMCA. Seventeen people in one room, united around a shared understanding of the data.
In that first meeting, something powerful happened. Mattern, who leads community health initiatives for Parkview Wabash, described the moment when coalition members saw the data displayed together for the first time:
““When you looked at all the data, wow, there really is a reason why [cancer is now our top need]. We have one of the highest mortality rates, if not the highest mortality rate for breast cancer in Wabash County [compared to the Parkview Health service area].””
That convergence of clear data, community stakeholders, and shared commitment quickly yielded a plan: the coalition would organize into three focused subgroups (Education, Screening, and Prevention/Diet), meet regularly, and work together on everything from screening awareness campaigns to addressing transportation barriers to exploring the role of nutrition in cancer prevention.
Why This Matters for Your Organization
Parkview's story illustrates something often missing from the community health assessment space: a true closing of the loop. Thousands of organizations conduct CHNAs. Fewer actually implement meaningful interventions. Even fewer create the infrastructure, both technological and organizational, to measure whether those interventions are working.
What Parkview did differently:
They built data infrastructure first. Standardized assessments, shared regional data systems, partnerships, and longitudinal data mean everyone is looking at the same story.
They integrated multiple data sources. Metopio's platform allowed them to combine federal benchmarks, state averages, rural-specific comparisons, and community-level details into a single view. They even created a public-facing Health Atlas so community partners could access the same data they were using to make decisions!
They translated findings into action steps, not just reports. The Wabash County Cancer Coalition isn't something that happened after the assessment. It emerged because of the assessment, with specific data points driving the work they chose to prioritize.
They understood that collaboration is the infrastructure. Data platforms are tools. But the real infrastructure is getting healthcare systems, public health departments, community organizations, and residents working from the same data playbook toward the same goals.
Want to See How Your Organization Can Build This Kind of Infrastructure?
Whether you're mid-CHNA, launching a public-facing Health Atlas, or looking for ways to move beyond assessment into genuine community health improvement, Metopio can help you turn data into action.