Abstract
The spatial access and dynamics of a changing population in urban areas with changing healthcare needs require frequent and logical methods to evaluate and assist in primary healthcare access and planning. Spatial or geographical access is an important aspect in the planning process. Healthcare accessibility analysis based on GIS is a logical method which can be applied to test the degree to which equitable access is obtained. In reality, a person will always go to their closest facility; GIS analysis is, however, based on this assumption of this rational choice. Inputs to the analysis are supplied in the form of healthcare facilities and demand estimates in the form of people who are actually seeking the healthcare service. Hyderabad healthcare system is a dual system made up of private and public healthcare facilities. Private healthcare system is expensive and only affordable to rich class. In the present study, GIS analysis is applied to determine three distinct demand scenarios based on a combination of three variables: (a) Household income groups, (b) Age criteria, (c) Chronic diseases, and Healthcare emergencies. GIS is used to determine catchment or buffer areas for each healthcare facility, allocating demand to its closest healthcare facility limiting access based on facility capacity and accessibility through a road network. The catchment or buffer area analysis results from each of the three demand scenarios are compared with actual situations in the form of nearest facilities and mapped origins of number of users at each facility. The major objective of the study is to show the use of GIS to quantify and improve the access to healthcare resources in terms of availability (supply of services which meets the population needs) and Accessibility (physical access along with travel time and cost) in Circle No.9 of GHMC, Hyderabad.KeywordsGISAccessibilityHospital locationsDemand areasTravel time
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