Open AccessUsing the Fusion Proximal Area Method and Gravity Method to Identify Areas with Physician Shortages
Author(s) -
XiaXing Xiong,
Chao Jin,
Haile Chen,
Li Luo
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0163504
Subject(s) - economic shortage , resource distribution , resource (disambiguation) , government (linguistics) , geographic information system , population , distribution (mathematics) , business , geography , computer science , resource allocation , environmental health , medicine , cartography , mathematics , computer network , mathematical analysis , linguistics , philosophy
Objectives This paper presents a geographic information system (GIS)-based proximal area method and gravity method for identifying areas with physician shortages. The innovation of this paper is that it uses the appropriate methods to discover each type of health resource and then integrates all these methods to assess spatial access to health resources using population distribution data. In this way, spatial access to health resources for an entire city can be visualized in one neat package, which can help health policy makers quickly comprehend realistic distributions of health resources at a macro level. Methods First, classify health resources according to the trade areas of the patients they serve. Second, apply an appropriate method to each different type of health resource to measure spatial access to those resources. Third, integrate all types of access using population distribution data. Results In case study of Shanghai with the fusion method, areas with physician shortages are located primarily in suburban districts, especially in district junction areas. The result suggests that the government of Shanghai should pay more attention to these areas by investing in new or relocating existing health resources. Conclusion The fusion method is demonstrated to be more accurate and practicable than using a single method to assess spatial access to health resources.