Identifying the socio-economic causes of disparities in health outcomes using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Interactive GIS mapping tools, coupled with an innovative and comprehensive community database, can facilitate and simplify the process of documenting community needs. These tools also aid in the exploration of relationships between community access to primary care and socio-economic and health status. As a result, they are exceptionally useful for instructional, research, advocacy and policy work related to health and socio-economic justice.

Geographic Information Systems software was used to identify potential barriers to access to care in communities on Long Island, New York, one of the most racially segregated regions in the United States. Two measures of access to care were used: number of physicians within a given distance from a community and rates of hospital utilization for ambulatory care sensitive diagnoses.

Geographic barriers such as large highways and lack of public transportation as well as socio-economic barriers such as low income, low educational attainment and high rates of un-insurance were all associated with low access to care within minority communities. The findings help to identify public policies that have the potential to address some disparities in access to care.