Selecting a location for a primary healthcare facility: combining a mathematical approach with a Geographic Information System to rank areas of relative need

Geographic Information Systems have become an invaluable tool in many industries as it can help to conceptualise available data and answer questions visually. The software allows for integration of key statistics and geographic data for a more detailed analysis. The objective of this study was to sh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Australian journal of primary health 2018-01, Vol.24 (2), p.130-134
Main Authors: Dudko, Yevgeni, Robey, Dennis E, Kruger, Estie, Tennant, Marc
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ambulatory care
Australia
Clinical decision making
Clinics
Data
Decision making
Geographic Information Systems
Geography
Health care policy
Health facilities
Health services
Health Services Needs and Demand
Hospitals
Humans
Indexes
Information systems
Infrastructure
Labor force
Mathematics
Mortality
Primary care
Primary Health Care
Professional Practice Location
Public health
Ratings & rankings
Site selection
Socioeconomic factors
Spatial analysis
Statistics
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Summary:Geographic Information Systems have become an invaluable tool in many industries as it can help to conceptualise available data and answer questions visually. The software allows for integration of key statistics and geographic data for a more detailed analysis. The objective of this study was to show how mathematically weighted, publicly available, relevant demographics data can be integrated with Geographic Information Systems to identify and rank potential locations for new primary healthcare facilities. Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage was mathematically weighted with respect to the usual resident population and the number of people not in the labour force data, at Statistical Area level 1 (SA1). Smoothing was applied by repeating the process at Statistical Area level 2, 3 and 4 to produce a quasi-index of priority. A total of 229 SA1 areas were identified and preselected as potential primary healthcare facility infrastructure sites across Australia. The quasi-index was incorporated into a Geographic Information System to produce a map identifying and ranking areas of relative need. Combining a mathematical approach with Geographic Information Systems can yield significant qualitative and quantitative advantages over conventional methods of site selection.
ISSN:1448-7527
1836-7399
DOI:10.1071/PY17093