scholarly journals Spatial accessibility assessment of COVID-19 patients to healthcare facilities: A case study of Florida

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 95-101
Author(s):  
Mahyar Ghorbanzadeh ◽  
Kyusik Kim ◽  
Eren Erman Ozguven ◽  
Mark W Horner
2021 ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Muhamad Iqbal Januadi Putra ◽  
Nabila Dety Novia Utami

The presence of healthcare facilities is quite essential to provide good healthcare services in a particular area, however, the existence of healthcare facilities is not evenly distributed in Cianjur Regency. This condition leads to the disparities of healthcare facilities across the Cianjur Regency. In this paper, we aim to measure and map the spatial disparities of healthcare facilities using a Two-Step Floating Catchment Analysis (2SFCA). This method can calculate the magnitude of spatial accessibility for healthcare facilities by formulating the travel time threshold and the quality of healthcare facilities across the study area. This research shows the result that the spatial accessibility of healthcare facilities in the Cianjur Regency is not evenly distributed across the districts. The spatial accessibility value resulted from 2SFCA is ranging from 0- 3.97. A low value indicates low spatial accessibility, while a higher value shows good accessibility. The majority of districts in the Cianjur Regency have the spatial accessibility value 0-0.5 (86%). Meanwhile, only a few have the higher value; value 0.5-0.99 as much as 6.6%, 0.99-1.49 as 3.3%, and 3.48-3.97 has a percentage of 3.3%. Also, this analysis results in the cluster of good spatial accessibility in healthcare facilities, namely the Pagelaran District and Cipanas District. Interestingly, the downtown of Cianjur Regency has lower spatial accessibility compared to both areas.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuolin Tao ◽  
Yang Cheng ◽  
Jixiang Liu

Abstract Background Spatial accessibility to healthcare facilities has drawn much attention in health geography. In China, central and local governments have aimed to develop a well-organized hierarchical system of healthcare facilities in recent years. However, few studies have focused on the measurement of healthcare accessibility in a hierarchical service delivery system, which is crucial for the assessment and implementation of such strategies. Methods Based on recent improvements in 2SFCA (two-step floating catchment area) method, this study aims to propose a Hierarchical 2SFCA (H2SFCA) method for measuring spatial accessibility to hierarchical facilities. The method considers the varied catchment area sizes, distance decay effects, and transport modes for facilities at various levels. Moreover, both the relative and absolute distance effects are incorporated into the accessibility measurement. Results The method is applied and tested in a case study of hierarchical healthcare facilities in Shenzhen, China. The results reveal that the general spatial accessibility to hierarchical healthcare facilities in Shenzhen is unevenly distributed and concentrated. The disparity of general accessibility is largely caused by the concentrated distribution of tertiary hospitals. For facilities at higher levels, average accessibility of demanders is higher, but there are also larger disparities in spatial accessibility. The comparison between H2SFCA and traditional methods reveals that traditional methods underestimate the spatial disparity of accessibility, which may lead to biased suggestions for policy making. Conclusions The results suggest that the supply of healthcare resources at primary facilities is far from sufficient. To improve the spatial equity in spatial accessibility to hierarchical healthcare facilities, various actions are needed at different levels. The proposed H2SFCA method contributes to the modelling of spatial accessibility to hierarchical healthcare facilities in China and similar environments where the referral system has not been well designed. It can also act as the foundation for developing more comprehensive measures in future studies.


Author(s):  
Ellen Taylor ◽  
Sue Hignett

Thinking in patient safety has evolved over time from more simplistic accident causation models to more robust frameworks of work system design. Throughout this evolution, less consideration has been given to the role of the built environment in supporting safety. The aim of this paper is to theoretically explore how we think about harm as a systems problem by mitigating the risk of adverse events through proactive healthcare facility design. We review the evolution of thinking in safety as a safety science. Using falls as a case study topic, we use a previously published model (SCOPE: Safety as Complexity of the Organization, People, and Environment) to develop an expanded framework. The resulting theoretical model and matrix, DEEP SCOPE (DEsigning with Ergonomic Principles), provide a way to synthesize design interventions into a systems-based model for healthcare facility design using human factors/ergonomics (HF/E) design principles. The DEEP SCOPE matrix is proposed to highlight the design of safe healthcare facilities as an ergonomic problem of design that fits the environment to the user by understanding built environments that support the “human” factor.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anass Rahouti ◽  
Ruggiero Lovreglio ◽  
Phil Jackson ◽  
Sélim Datoussaïd

Assessing the fire safety of buildings is fundamental to reduce the impact of this threat on their occupants. Such an assessment can be done by combining existing models and existing knowledge on how occupants behave during fires. Although many studies have been carried out for several types of built environment, only few of those investigate healthcare facilities and hospitals. In this study, we present a new behavioural data-set for hospital evacuations. The data was collected from the North Shore Hospital in Auckland (NZ) during an unannounced drill carried out in May 2017. This drill was recorded using CCTV and those videos are analysed to generate new evacuation model inputs for hospital scenarios. We collected pre-movement times, exit choices and total evacuation times for each evacuee. Moreover, we estimated pre-movement time distributions for both staff members and patients. Finally, we qualitatively investigated the evacuee actions of patients and staff members to study their interaction during the drill. The results show that participants were often independent from staff actions with a majority able to make their own decision.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Will T. Shirey ◽  
Kenneth Timothy Sullivan ◽  
Brian Lines ◽  
Jake Smithwick

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to present a case study on the application of the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) quality improvement methodology to facilities management (FM) services at a healthcare organization. Research literature was reviewed concerning whether or not LSS has been applied in healthcare-based FM, but no such studies have been published. This paper aims to address the lack of an applicable methodology for LSS intervention within the context of healthcare-based FM. The Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) framework was followed to test the hypothesis that LSS can improve the service provided by an FM department responsible for the maintenance and repair of furniture and finishes at a large healthcare organization in the southwest United States of America. Quality improvement curricula and resources offered by the case study organization equipped the FM department to apply LSS over the course of a five-month period. Qualitative data were gathered from pre- and post-intervention surveys while quantitative data were gathered with the Organization's computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software. Overall, LSS application proved to be useful for the intended purpose. The authors proposes that application of LSS by other FM departments to improve their services could also be successful, which is noteworthy and deserving of continued research.


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