Spatial analysis and evaluation of medical resource allocation in China based on geographic big data

Abstract

Background Spatial allocation of medical resources is closely related to people’s health. Thus, it is important to evaluate the abundance of medical resources regionally and explore the spatial heterogeneity of medical resource allocation. Methods Using medical geographic big data, this study analyzed 369 Chinese cities and constructed a medical resource evaluation model based on the grading of medical institutions using the Delphi method. It evaluated China’s medical resources at three levels (economic sectors, economic zones, and provinces) and discussed their spatial clustering patterns. Geographically weighted regression was used to explore the correlations between the evaluation results and population and gross domestic product (GDP). Results The spatial heterogeneity of medical resource allocation in China was significant, and the following general regularities were observed: 1) The abundance and balance of medical resources were typically better in the east than in the west, and in coastal areas compared to inland ones. 2) The average primacy ratio of medical resources in Chinese cities by province was 2.30. The spatial distribution of medical resources in the provinces was unbalanced, showing high concentrations in the primate cities. 3) The allocation of medical resources at the provincial level in China was summarized as following a single-growth pole pattern supplemented by bipolar circular allocation and balanced allocation patterns. The agglomeration patterns of medical resources in typical cities were categorized into single-center and balanced development patterns. GDP was highly correlated to the medical evaluation results, while demographic factors showed, low correlations. Large cities and their surrounding areas exhibited obvious response characteristics. Conclusions These findings provide policy-relevant guidance for improving the spatial imbalance of medical resources, strengthening regional public health systems, and promoting government coordination efforts for medical resource allocation at different levels to improve the overall functioning of the medical and health service system and bolster its balanced and synergistic development.

Understanding China’s urban system evolution from web search index data

“…The result shows that the level of medical care has the greatest impact on the attractiveness of the city, followed by tourism. The uneven allocation of medical care resources [ 50 ] leads to the need to seek medical services across cities, which might increase the contribution of health care function to urban attractiveness. The high impact of tourism shows that people tend to target tourist destinations when searching the Internet.…”

The positive association between internal migration and hospitalization among the older adults in China: Regional heterogeneity and chronic disease management

“…Patient migration is becoming globally common ( 43 ). The eastern region is the most economically developed area in China, and possesses more high-quality medical resources than other regions ( 24 , 44 ). As a result, patients who could not be diagnosed or cured migrated to eastern China to seek for appropriate treatment.…”

“…China exhibits an uneven distribution of medical resources and a wide variation in medical standards between urban and rural areas, as well as across provinces ( 24 , 25 ). In this regard, the association between migration and hospitalization is presumed to be significant in certain areas.…”

GIS-Based Medical Resource Evaluation Method

“…In formula (7), A i is the accessibility index of a certain settlement i to all medical service facilities j in the area; S j is the facility scale of a medical service facility j. In this paper, the hospital or health center mainly includes the following: the beds represents the number of patients that can be carriedD ij represents the distance from settlement i to the medical service facility j. e data in this part are mainly calculated by the OD travel table obtained from the analysis of the GIS network data.…”

“…During the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" period, the state proposed to accelerate the establishment of a sound basic public service system, adhere to the people-oriented approach, improve the level of basic public services in cities, and strive to promote the balance of basic public services [5,6]. erefore, the spatial layout of public service facilities is related to people's quality of life and social justice [7][8][9][10].…”