Measuring access to urban health services using Geographical Information System (GIS): a case study of health service management in Bandar Abbas, Iran

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The current distribution of and access to health services along with the future health needs of the population have prompted wide application of Geographic Information Systems (GISs). During recent years, GIS has been used in public health management for planning and organization of healthcare services. This study investigates geographical accessibility of residential areas in Bandar Abbas, Iran to healthcare services. METHODS: Accessibility was evaluated by using Floating Catchment Area (FCA), minimum distance methods and Response Time (RT) accessibility technique. RESULTS: More accurate measures of distances in Bandar Abbas, illustrated that Euclidean distances were not strongly correlated with network distances. The RT accessibility technique that utilizes shortest network path and time distances, presented detailed information about all the possible positions of the patients with respect to available healthcare services based on optimum and critical response times. CONCLUSION: Locations of public health services in Bandar Abbas were not related to the sites of populations. The RT accessibility technique provides a reasonably sensitive and robust evaluation of accessibility.

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