Abstract
Abstract Accessibility (geographic or spatial) to health services is a component of health care services access that through measurement can assess inequities in health. Geographical accessibility can be measured using a geographic information system (GIS) where travel time is calculated from the patient’s home to the place where a service is delivered. Permanent care centers of family doctors (PCCs) are units providing family medicine services (consultations, injections, solving minor emergencies) outside the work schedule of family doctors (night and holiday), for overloading prevention of emergency hospitals services by direct addressing or by calling to the unique emergency number 112. Bihor County has 617118 inhabitants in the 101 administrative-territorial units (458 localities), 334 family medicine practices, and there were 34 PCCs. We intended to identify the number of localities in more than 10, 20 or 30 minutes of travel by car from the PCC (based on end-2018 data). A GIS was created using the QGIS application, which includes layers: the county border, the 454 localities and the georeferenced addresses of PCC. Using the ORS Tools plug-in, the appropriate isochrones were created. Then overlapping isochrones and localities (points), the number of localities for which the travel time to the nearest PCC is greater than 10, 20 and 30 minutes, respectively, was obtained. The time needed for the inhabitants to reach the PCC is: more than 10 minutes for 247 localities; more than 20 minutes for 81 localities and over 30 minutes for 10 localities. The results are presented in the form of maps and in tabular form (localities). Using GIS, accessibility to medical services in a territory (city, county, country) can be measured. The application of free GIS software, QGIS, requires hardware, staff training, procedures (for work and decision-making) to research and improve population access to health services. Key messages Access to health services can be assessed using geographic information systems. The use of appropriate maps facilitates decision making to optimize health services.
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