Inpatient Health Care Demand and Geographic Elasticity in Isfahan Province Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

In this cross - sectional study، information about 24844 patients who admitted in hospitals in Isfahan in September 2008، including age، sex، cause and ward of hospitalization، residence address، type of referral and insurance coverage was extracted by means of self designed checklist. Data was analyzed using SPSS software primarily. Using visual and analytical capabilities of the GIS ARC/GIS (ver 9. 3) the data were illustrated in the forms of maps. In the study period، 11832 (47. 6 percent) male and 12984 (52. 3%) female were hospitalized. About 56 percent of patients were under 35 years old. In the other word there was more demand in females and young age groups for inpatient care. Most causes of hospitalization were pregnancy and childbirth complications in women (29. 5%)، and injuries and accidents (27. 3%) in men. People had more demand for services from the public sector. Semirom، Najaf Abad and Lenjan had the higher per capita hospitalized patient (3/9، 6/7 and 3/7 patient per 1000 population respectively). The center of the province had a remarkable geographical elasticity for substantial provinces especialy for nearby city of Isfahan High elasticity of inpatient services in the provincial capital city lead to increasing the load of patients in referral centers. Targeted management of this demand to the referral block cities، by strengthening them، altering the community culture and implementing the family physicians programs is possible.