Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-19-2026

Identifier

DOI: 10.1017/cts.2025.10220; PMCID: PMC12873486

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: DeGAUSS is a privacy-preserving application that ingests addresses and generates output that includes latitude, longitude, census tract, deprivation index and drive times to major hospitals. The application uses a complex command line interface and a container management platform to perform analysis. Our objective was to develop a user-friendly DeGAUSS-based application that simplifies place-based analysis. We also enabled automated geomarker generation by providing an API modality to DeGAUSS.

METHODS: We developed a self-service platform based on the DeGAUSS application. The application was linked to user authentication platforms. The self-service application can be implemented as an API, enabling high-volume geocoding transactions. We surveyed active users for feedback.

RESULTS: The self-service geomarker application was deployed at Children's Mercy and the University of Kansas Medical Center. During the period evaluated, more than 2 million addresses were geocoded for 24 users through the user interface and more than 15 million addresses through the API. Users expressed high satisfaction with the system. All respondents used the census block group feature and the core geocoding. Most respondents, 60%, used the deprivation index and 30% used the drive time feature. Population health and social determinants of health were the most common uses (80% each) followed by health equity analyses (70%).

CONCLUSION: Population health and social determinants of health research require access to precise geographic information about patients or research subjects. The self-service geomarker capability enables users who may not be comfortable with a command line interface to generate geocoded addresses in support of their research and analysis.

Journal Title

J Clin Transl Sci

Volume

10

Issue

1

First Page

17

Last Page

17

PubMed ID

41657753

Keywords

Geocoding; social determinants of health; software; spatial analysis

Comments

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the same Creative Commons licence is used to distribute the re-used or adapted article and the original article is properly cited.

Publisher's Link: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-clinical-and-translational-science/article/an-opensource-application-for-selfservice-health-insurance-and-portability-accountability-actcompliant-geocoding/45EAC842A205D239C1DBA5087E6A102C

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