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Published on: February 25, 2013
Using geographic information systems to understand health care access.
R L Phillips1, E L Kinman, P G Schnitzer
1Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia, USA. bphillips@aafp.org
Archives of Family Medicine
|December 15, 2000
Summary
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping revealed unmet health care access needs in Boone County, Missouri. This data can inform policymakers and improve community health services.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
- Public Health Policy
Background:
- Assessing community health care access needs and intervention effectiveness is challenging.
- Translating complex health data for policymakers requires clear, persuasive formats.
- Geographic Information Systems (GIS) offer powerful data visualization for illustrating health access issues.
Purpose of the Study:
- To integrate community health center (CHC) patient data with health care survey data.
- To visually represent the CHC service area and community health care access needs.
- To analyze the relationships between health care access, poverty, and political boundaries.
Main Methods:
- Georeferencing, analyzing, and mapping data from two distinct databases.
- Utilizing data from community health center patients and survey respondents in Boone County, Missouri.
- Creating maps to define CHC service areas, patient demographics, and health care access disparities.
Main Results:
- The CHC's actual service area differed from its initially targeted region.
- Identified subpopulations with unmet health care access needs and poverty at the census tract level.
- Underserved populations were located within geopolitical boundaries, facilitating connection to elected officials.
Conclusions:
- Geographic Information Systems (GIS) effectively integrate diverse data into visual formats.
- GIS illustrates complex relationships impacting health care access, aiding intervention evaluation.
- GIS tools can inform health services research and guide evidence-based health care policy.
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