[Scales for the analysis of health care provision]

Geographic analysis of the provision of health care has various levels. The inter-country level is suitable for observing flows of health personnel crossing national borders. At the national level, a variety of health facilities management policies may be observed in different regions. The regional level may be used for evaluating access to services, in particular those between rural and urban areas, or even between cities of the same size. Disparities of access to services may be accompanied by gaps between the provision of and the need for services. At a lower level, France has the level of "canton." Nevertheless, this is not always relevant, especially for observing secondary and tertiary care. Data gathered at the "municipalité" level are more precise, in that they allow analysts to follow the circulation of patients. However, this is expensive, and does not go beyond the resource assessment stage. On the basis of fieldwork, one can subdivide the territory into units characterized by specific relations, e.g., those of care providers and the corresponding population. Such mapping crosses conventional administrative limits and emphasizes different social groups and their organization.