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Assessing Spatial Accessibility to Medical Resources at the Community Level in Shenzhen, China

by 1,†, 2,3,†, 4, 5, 6,7, 1 and 1,*
1
School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 74, Zhongshan 2nd Road, Guangzhou 510080, China
2
Center for Chinese Public Administration Research, School of Government, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 135, Xingang Xi Road, Guangzhou 510275, China
3
Department of Public Administration, School of Government, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 135, Xingang Xi Road, Guangzhou 510275, China
4
Department of Geology and Geography, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460-8149, USA
5
Shenzhen Medical Information Center, No. 2210, North Renmin Road, Shenzhen 518001, China
6
Department of Urban Planning and Design, 8/F Knowles Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
7
The University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Institute of Research and Innovation, Shenzhen 518001, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
These two authors contributed equally.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(2), 242; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16020242
Received: 9 November 2018 / Revised: 9 January 2019 / Accepted: 15 January 2019 / Published: 16 January 2019
(This article belongs to the Section Health Economics)
Spatial accessibility to medical resources is an integral component of universal health coverage. However, research evaluating the spatial accessibility of healthcare services at the community level in China remains limited. We assessed the community-level spatial access to beds, doctors, and nurses at general hospitals and identified the shortage areas in Shenzhen, one of the fastest growing cities in China. Based on hospital and population data from 2016, spatial accessibility was analyzed using several methods: shortest path analysis, Gini coefficient, and enhanced 2-step floating catchment area (E2SFCA). The study found that 99.9% of the residents in Shenzhen could get to the nearest general hospital within 30 min. Healthcare supply was much more equitable between populations than across communities in the city. E2SFCA scores showed that the communities with the best and worst hospital accessibility were found in the southwest and southeast of the city, respectively. State-owned public hospitals still dominated the medical resources supply market and there was a clear spatial accessibility disparity between private and public healthcare resources. The E2SFCA scores supplement more details about resource disparity over space than do crude provider-to-population ratios (PPR) and can help improve the efficiency of the distribution of medical resources. View Full-Text
Keywords: spatial accessibility; general hospital; medical resource; E2SFCA; Shenzhen spatial accessibility; general hospital; medical resource; E2SFCA; Shenzhen
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MDPI and ACS Style

Zhu, L.; Zhong, S.; Tu, W.; Zheng, J.; He, S.; Bao, J.; Huang, C. Assessing Spatial Accessibility to Medical Resources at the Community Level in Shenzhen, China. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 242. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16020242

AMA Style

Zhu L, Zhong S, Tu W, Zheng J, He S, Bao J, Huang C. Assessing Spatial Accessibility to Medical Resources at the Community Level in Shenzhen, China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16(2):242. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16020242

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zhu, Lei, Shuang Zhong, Wei Tu, Jing Zheng, Shenjing He, Junzhe Bao, and Cunrui Huang. 2019. "Assessing Spatial Accessibility to Medical Resources at the Community Level in Shenzhen, China" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 2: 242. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16020242

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