Assessment of accessibility to dialysis services for users of the South Eastern Metropolitan Health Service.

Abstract

Introduction: The primary goal was to assess the accessibility of dialysis services in the urban area of the Metropolitan Health Service Southeast of Chile (SSMSO) using the rational agent-based access model (RAAM).

Materials and methods: The supply and demand for services were assessed by geocoding addresses and aggregating data at the neighborhood level, utilizing the Python spatial analysis library, Geopandas. Subsequently, transportation times by car were estimated using the R5py routing engine to execute the model.

Results: The standardized values of the RAAM model enabled us to identify specific neighborhood units that have high accessibility costs. These costs are between 13% and 19% higher than the average for the study area in both evaluated scenarios (26 minutes and 13 minutes, respectively).

Discussion: The sectors experiencing the greatest challenges in accessing this type of service are located in the La Florida, San Ramón, La Granja, and La Pintana communes. In contrast, the Puente Alto commune generally shows better access indicators. These findings can aid in decision-making related to potential access to dialysis services, which can be based on various configurations of supply and demand. This method can also be applied to identify accessibility gaps at the local level for emergency services or medical specialties or medical specialties.