Intercity patient mobility can improve healthcare accessibility and equality in metropolitan areas: A case study of Shenzhen metropolitan area, China

IF 4 2区地球科学 Q1 GEOGRAPHY

Applied Geography Pub Date : 2024-08-16 DOI:10.1016/j.apgeog.2024.103383

Qianyu Zhong , Jiangyue Wu , Zhuolin Tao

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Healthcare accessibility and equality have attracted extensive attention, but few in metropolitan areas, which are characterized by intense intercity connections. Despite of the policy focus on intercity patient mobility in metropolitan areas, the quantitative impact of intercity patient mobility on healthcare accessibility and equality remains understudied. This study develops a comprehensive framework to quantify such impacts by comparing two scenarios (i.e., intercity and intracity) of accessibility to existing and optimized healthcare services. A two-step optimization method, integrating efficiency and equality, is applied to optimize healthcare resources. These analyses are conducted within the context of the Shenzhen metropolitan area. The results reveal that intercity patient mobility can improve efficiency and equality of healthcare accessibility to existing services by 8% and 6%, respectively. Furthermore, optimization that considers intercity patient mobility can improve healthcare accessibility efficiency and equality by 37% and 19% compared to the status quo. The framework and methods developed in this study are valuable for measuring and optimizing healthcare accessibility in metropolitan areas, which is transferrable to other areas with significant regional disparity. This study also provides quantitative evidence of the positive effects of intercity patient mobility on healthcare efficiency and equality in metropolitan areas, which is fundamental for policymaking and planning.

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城际间的病人流动可以改善大都市地区的医疗服务可及性和平等性：中国深圳大都市区案例研究

医疗保健的可及性和平等性已引起广泛关注，但大都市地区却很少受到关注，因为大都市地区的特点是城际联系紧密。尽管政策关注大都市地区的城际病人流动性，但城际病人流动性对医疗保健可及性和平等性的定量影响仍未得到充分研究。本研究开发了一个综合框架，通过比较现有和优化医疗服务的两种可及性方案（即城际和城内）来量化这些影响。在优化医疗保健资源时，采用了一种将效率和平等结合在一起的两步优化法。这些分析以深圳大都市区为背景进行。研究结果表明，城际间的患者流动可将现有医疗服务的效率和平等性分别提高 8%和 6%。此外，与现状相比，考虑城际患者流动性的优化方案可将医疗服务可及性的效率和平等性分别提高 37% 和 19%。本研究中开发的框架和方法对于衡量和优化大都市地区的医疗服务可及性非常有价值，可以推广到其他地区差异显著的地区。本研究还提供了定量证据，证明城市间病人流动性对大都市地区医疗保健效率和平等的积极影响，这对政策制定和规划至关重要。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Applied Geography GEOGRAPHY-

CiteScore

8.00

自引率

2.00%

发文量

134

期刊介绍： Applied Geography is a journal devoted to the publication of research which utilizes geographic approaches (human, physical, nature-society and GIScience) to resolve human problems that have a spatial dimension. These problems may be related to the assessment, management and allocation of the world physical and/or human resources. The underlying rationale of the journal is that only through a clear understanding of the relevant societal, physical, and coupled natural-humans systems can we resolve such problems. Papers are invited on any theme involving the application of geographical theory and methodology in the resolution of human problems.