Marathon County, Wisconsin faced a familiar but complex challenge: how to effectively collect, manage and utilize local data to inform public health priorities and drive community-wide improvements. Historically, the county relied on a printed, static report — the LIFE (Local Indicators for Excellence) Report — produced every two years. This labor-intensive process involved collecting and formatting hundreds of data points from scratch, limiting the ability to keep information current and accessible. Additionally, the county needed a way to engage over 50 community partners and residents meaningfully in the data collection and prioritization process.
To address these challenges, Marathon County adopted the Conduent Healthy Communities Institute (HCI) platform, launching Marathon County Pulse in 2018. This dynamic online platform transformed the LIFE Report into an immersive experience that combines local data, community context and storytelling. The platform enabled:
- Online publication of 324 local indicators of youth risk behavior, childcare capacity
and crime data - Integration of 289 health and quality of life indicators maintained by Conduent with
regular updates - Launching of a community engagement and perception survey with nearly 1,800
responses to inform the 2026 LIFE Report
The platform also supported the development of a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) that aligns with MAPP 2.0 and PHAB accreditation standards. Progress on the CHIP is being tracked through custom dashboards on Marathon County Pulse.
Learn more about their switch from a static report to a dynamic online resource by downloading the story from 2025 below. See their platform here: Marathon County Pulse