How do administrative borders affect accessibility to hospitals? The case of Sweden

• Published in: The International journal of health planning and management Vol. 33; no. 3; pp. e696 - e710
• Main Authors: Meng, Xiangli, Carling, Kenneth, Håkansson, Johan, Rebreyend, Pascal
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.07.2018
• Subjects: Access; Accessibility; administrative barriers; Borders; Complex Systems – Microdata Analysis; Confining; Hospitals; Komplexa system - mikrodataanalys; optimal location; population dynamics; Public service; travel time; Sweden; public service; travel time; optimal location; administrative barriers; population dynamics
• ISSN: 0749-6753; 1099-1751; 1099-1751
• DOI: 10.1002/hpm.2520

Summary An administrative border might hinder the optimal allocation of a given set of resources by restricting the flow of goods, services, and people. In this paper, we address the question: Do administrative borders lead to poor accessibility to public service? In answering the question, we have examined the case of Sweden and its regional administrative borders and hospital accessibility. We have used detailed data on the Swedish road network, its hospitals, and its geo‐coded population. We have assessed the population's spatial accessibility to Swedish hospitals by computing the inhabitants' distance to the nearest hospital. We have also elaborated several scenarios ranging from strongly confining regional borders to no confinements of borders and recomputed the accessibility. Our findings imply that administrative borders are only marginally worsening the accessibility.