The San Francisco Community Vital Signs: using web-based tools to facilitate the mobilizing for action through planning and partnerships process.

A coalition of local public health system stakeholders in San Francisco developed a community assessment and strategic planning tool, the San Francisco Community Vital Signs (SFCVS). The SFCVS builds on the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) model by incorporating Internet-based technology into local public health system evaluation and strengthening. This article describes the overlap between the SFCVS and MAPP processes, the manner in which information technology facilitated the SFCVS process, and a template for infusing a Web-based platform into the MAPP model. Internet-based applications helped to implement many (16 of 41; 39%) of the components of the SFCVS process. Of these 16 process measures, the majority (10; 63%) required the use of Web-based technology. The SFCVS demonstrates that a MAPP-like process can leverage the Internet to augment the functionality of public health activities.