1. Accessibility to general practitioners in rural South Australia: a case study using geographic information system technology
- Author
-
Bamford, Errol J., Dunne, Lyle, Taylor, Danielle S., Symon, Brian G., Hugo, Graeme J., and Wilkinson, David
- Subjects
Australia -- Social policy ,Medical care -- Research ,Rural health services -- Australia ,Geographic information systems -- Usage ,Family medicine -- Location ,Physicians (General practice) -- Location ,Medical policy -- Planning ,Databases -- Usage ,Medically underserved areas -- Research ,Medical informatics -- Usage ,Health - Abstract
A study to show the potential of geographic information system (GIS) technology and the Accessibility/Remoteness Index for Australia (ARIA) as tools for the medical workforce and health service planning of that country has been carried out to measure distance from populated locality to general practitioner (GP) services. GP services were found to be relatively inaccessible to many rural South Australian community dwellers. It was found that GIS and ARIA have potential for being useful in reasoned medical-workforce and health-service planning. Measures of health need and more detailed data on GP services will make more sophisticated planning possible. A GS was created with data on locations of GP services in South Australia using the database of the Rural Undergraduate Medical Placement System (RUMPS).
- Published
- 1999