Using GIS for calculating the accessibility to hospitals in the city of Bucharest and its metropolitan area (Romania) (original) (raw)
Related papers
Geospatial Health, 2018
We studied the geospatial distribution of health facilities in Belgrade, the capital of the Republic of Serbia, in relation to the public transport system. Analyses in this research were based on advanced geographical information systems using numerical methods. We calculated accessibility to health centres as based on public transport properties accounting for the movement of citizens, as well as patients, through the city. Based on results, the city of Belgrade has a moderate connectivity. Public health centres and a group of other health centres in the central-east part of the city have a better connectivity. Also, in this paper we estimated that the average time necessary to reach health facilities on foot is 100 minutes and by public transport vehicles such as buses, trams and trolleys is 42 minutes.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
The geographical accessibility to hospitals relies on the configuration of the hospital network, spatial impedance and population distribution. This paper explores the potential geographic accessibility of the population to public hospitals in Romania by using the Distance Application Program Interface (API) Matrix service from Google Maps and open data sources. Based on real-time traffic navigation data, we examined the potential accessibility of hospitals through a weighted model that took into account the hospital competency level and travel time while using personal car transportation mode. Two scenarios were generated that depend on hospitals’ level of competency (I–V). When considering all categories of hospitals, access is relatively good with over 80% of the population reaching hospitals in less than 30 min. This is much lower in the case of hospitals that provide complex care, with 34% of the population travelling between 90 to 120 min to the nearest hospital classed in the...
It is important for health planners to provide health services as effectively and equitably as possible for the development of quality living environments. The provision of adequate healthcare services, particularly in metropolitan areas, is becoming more difficult because of three developments: slow economic growth; the rapid growth of metropolitan areas and their subsequent increases in population. It is thus a challenge to provide what is considered a fair or socially just distribution of healthcare services to a population with changing healthcare needs. The spatial distribution of people and their varying need for healthcare services is a long-standing interest in the field of service planning, and provides a classic issue well suited for Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to analyse. Access is an important aspect in healthcare service planning. GIS-based accessibility analysis is a logical method that can be applied to test the degree to which access is obtained. Such successful applications of GIS-based analysis have been useful in indicating the accessibility of an existing or potential service. This has provided a good basis for the planning of healthcare services. However, it has been increasingly realised that there is a growing need for a paradigm shift in the planning process. In South Africa, primary healthcare (PHC) is a dual system made up of private and public healthcare facilities. Private PHC is expensive and only affordable to people with medical insurance. These people, most currently belonging to the middle and high income brackets, are theoretically also healthier than the rest of the population. But a small proportion of the population in the low income bracket also has medical aid or insurance. Hence, it is quite difficult to make a clear distinction of the low, middle and high income uninsured population when measuring access to public primary healthcare services. In this study, three different scenarios to calculate the uninsured population were generated and tested using a GIS-based form of catchment area analysis. The results from the catchment area analysis were compared with actual public PHC demand in the form of headcounts and further analysis of the origins of the patients was undertaken using a patient register. Results indicate that there is no significant difference in the spatial extent of the catchment areas of the facilities across the three demand scenarios but that there are significant differences in demand visits per scenario. A patient register and facility headcounts, both based on actual visits to public PHC facilities, were compared to the results of the catchment area analysis. The comparison results show that almost 45% of the patients did not use their closest facility as a first point of contact. The total allocated demand visits in scenario 3 was strongly in line with the total number of headcounts of the area, and thus is considered the most suitable calculation of uninsured population for implementation in a GIS-based accessibility analysis.
Accessibility of Health Care Institutions: A Case Study by Using Gis
2013
Equitable provision of health care services is a major challenge for developing countries. The degree of accessibility of health care institutions is one of the most significant indicators for measuring the efficiency of a health care system. Accessibility is a complex indicator that reflects the number of health care institutions, their geographical distribution and the impact of different types of barriers (economic, social, cultural, etc.). Geographers have been mainly concerned with geographical accessibility for the calculation of which they have tried different methods. Over the last twenty years, GIS has provided valuable tools for the measurement of geographical accessibility. In this study, we use GIS tools to investigate the accessibility of health care institutions in the Buyukcekmece district of Istanbul. We found no major accessibility problems in the district as even those inhabitants living the farthest from the health care centers can reach the closest medical instit...
Modelling spatial accessibility to medical care. Case study of the North-Eastern Region of Romania
Providing the entire population with the same accessibility to services of general interest is among the priorities of EU policy. Among these services, those concerned with medical treatment occupy a special place due to their social and economic importance. The study raises the issue of modelling the population’s spatial accessibility to medical services in the North-Eastern Region of Romania. A trans-scalar methodology that has been tailored to the specific features of the Romanian medical system was employed for computing indexes of accessibility. The methodology brings together into one synthetic indicator five hierarchical levels of analysis, the geographical proximity of service centres, their degree of attractiveness and the potential need for medical services at local level. The results highlight areas with different levels of accessibility to medical services and their dysfunctionalities according to each variable employed in the analysis. - See more at: http://www.humangeographies.org.ro/volume-9-issue-2-2015/923-abstract#sthash.TKxhIUeM.dpuf
Accessibility of Public Healthcare Services in Mysore City-A GIS Approach
https://www.ijhsr.org/IJHSR\_Vol.11\_Issue.5\_May2021/IJHSR-Abstract.046.html, 2021
The main theme of healthcare is to provide complete health facilities, to protect every one for physical, social, and mental health, to decrease the death rate, to increase the life expectancy of human being. The accessibility of healthcare centers is one of the most important indicators for measuring the efficiency of a healthcare system. Accessibility is a complex indicator that reflects the number of health care institutions, their geographical distribution and the impact of different types of barriers social, Economic and culture [1]. Geographers are mainly concerned with geographical accessibility for the calculation. GIS is a technique which provide a set of tools for describing and understanding the spatial distribution of healthcare facilities, evaluating accessibility and barriers to health care delivery of health facilities and Creating a map of health infrastructure. In this paper an attempt has been made to analyze the functioning of health care services and its infrastructure facilities in Mysore city using GIS techniques. To identify the gap between the availability and the accessibility of health infrastructure services in terms of prescribed norms. The present study is based on both Primary and Secondary Data. The Base Map of Study area has been Geo-referenced and digitized using GIS Software. Location of healthcare centres will be mapped with the help of Global Position System (GPS). Data is analyzed though simple quantitative techniques and the spatial disparity of health centers were measured by applying location quotient. Various Maps have been generated to show the health care services in the study area. The results show that the availability of healthcare center is unequally distributed and there is scarcity in the availability of infrastructure and workforce among the study area.
Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, 2019
The present study represents a social and geographical analysis of the spatial distribution of pharmacies in Craiova city using GIS methods. This study aims to present the evolution in the pharmacies’ number, location, density and accessibility to the population of Craiova city on the background of an analysis of European and national legislation concerning the pharmaceutical sector. The paper also outlines the uneven distribution of pharmacies in the city by analysing the ratio between the number of pharmacies and the number of people within a district. Distance and time are considered important, especially when using different transport types. Indicators like density of pharmacies, distribution of population density, and population size in districts were taken into account in this study. Although the GIS-based analysis revealed that accessibility of pharmacies in terms of time and distance and the ratio of population size to number of pharmacies were both good and had increased ov...
CONSAS , 2014
Geographical access is an important aspect of the health care planning process. GIS-based accessibility analysis is a logical method which can be applied to test the degree to which equitable access to services and facilities is obtained. The GIS analysis is, however, based on the assumption of rational choice, i.e. a person will always go to the closest facility. Inputs to the analysis are supply (facility capacity) and demand (population) estimates. In South Africa primary health care (PHC) is a dual system made up of private and public health care facilities. Private PHC is expensive and only affordable to affluent citizens or people with medical insurance, and does not form a part of this study. Two challenges regarding GIS-based accessibility analysis for public PHC services within a South African context that emerge are: (a) how accurate is a rational choice-based model compared to people's actual decisions; and, (b) what method is best in determining demand in the absence of accurate databases indicating public versus private health care usage? GIS demand profiling tools were applied to determine three distinct demand scenarios based on a combination of three variables: (a) household income category; (b) age; and, (c) average visits. A GIS-based form of catchment area modelling was used to determine catchment areas for each facility, allocating demand to the closest facility and limiting access based on facility capacity and access via a road network. Results indicate that there is no significant difference in the spatial extent of the catchment areas of the facilities across the three scenarios but that there is a significant demand increase per scenario: scenario 1 (6 711 292) < scenario 2 (6 828 738) < scenario 3 (7 120 648). An electronic tuberculosis (TB) patient register and facility headcounts based on actual visits were compared to the results of the catchment area modelling. The comparison results show that almost 45% of the patients did not use their nearest facility as a first point of contact. The headcounts showed that the method used for scenario 3 is ideal for determining primary health care demand. GIS is not the complete solution to understanding all the issues of access to public health care services but is a useful tool to support planning by spatially identifying where interventions are needed most, especially in the absence of accurate and geo-referenced patient registers.
Evaluating public ambulance service levels by applying a GIS based accessibility analysis approach
South African Journal of Geomatics, 2017
Ambulance vehicles are required to respond rapidly to medical emergencies. A number of factors may affect response times, most importantly the location of emergency services stations, the number of ambulance vehicles available at each station, road conditions and traffic volumes. To support spatial planning and provide input to the Integrated Development Plan of the City of Tshwane, a GIS based analysis of ambulance response time was undertaken. The purpose was to make recommendations aimed at the improved placement of stations and allocation of ambulances per station to improve service delivery through reducing the likely response times of ambulance services within the Tshwane Metropolitan area. The key input parameters used included the spatial distribution of demand (population), supply (station locations and ambulance numbers) and emergency road speeds These were tested against a provision standard of one ambulance per 30 000 people. The response target applied in suburban areas was 15 minutes but 40 minutes in low density outlying areas. The results show that the current emergency services stations' locations are well distributed within the metropole; however, there seems to be a spatial mismatch in vehicle allocation. The paper discusses the impact of the two demand scenarios, namely: universal reliance on public ambulance services versus public ambulances only serving those without medical insurance. The paper concludes that GIS provide an extremely versatile and useful means of testing the implications of demand scenarios and standards relating to these factors of service provision and thereby contribute to better informed decision making.
Spatial Accessibility to Primary Healthcare Facilities in Iran: A GIS-Based Approach
Evidence Based Health Policy, Management and Economics
Background: Primary healthcare facilities are essential to provide healthcare to individuals and the society closer to home. Fast, timely, and affordable access to these centers is important in each society. This is especially crucial to prevent and control the epidemics of non-communicable diseases that are highly affecting populations in urban settings. This study aimed to assess spatial accessibility to primary healthcare facilities in Yazd city (Iran), using a Geographic Information System (GIS). Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, which was conducted cross-sectionally in 2022, locational information related to primary healthcare centers, population distribution, and urban zoning of Yazd city were collected and recorded in Excel format. Then, distribution maps of each of the studied uses were determined. Then, the existing indicators and standards regarding the uses were determined through documentary studies, and a geographic database was formed through the GIS softw...