Measuring national accessibility to cardiac services using geographic information systems

The Cardiac Access-Remoteness Index of Australia (Cardiac ARIA) used geographic information systems (GIS) to model population level, road network accessibility to cardiac services before and after a cardiac event for all (20,387) population localities in Australia., The index ranged from 1A (access to all cardiac services within 1 h driving time) to 8E (limited or no access). The methodology derived an objective geographic measure of accessibility to required cardiac services across Australia. Approximately 71% of the 2006 Australian population had very good access to acute hospital services and services after hospital discharge. This GIS model could be applied to other regions or health conditions where spatially enabled data were available.

► Cardiac ARIA measures population accessibility to Cardiac Services across Australia.
► 71% of the 2006 Australian population had very good access cardiac services.
► The Cardiac ARIA methodology can be applied to any jurisdiction and any service.
► Cardiac ARIA allows planners to assess service provision with at risk populations.