Adding Dimensions to Information: GIS for the Divisions of General Practice Setting

Abstract

With the rapid increase in uptake of information technologies in the health sector, and with concurrent trends in the need to be able to quantify health outcomes, the demands for access to information about a population and health services at a given location has increased. The Geographic Information Systems for General Practice Project was a pilot study in Victoria whereby a GIS was developed for use in the primary health care setting on whose areas the data was collected. This paper discusses the methodology adopted in the project and describes the implementation of the system on the Internet environment. Two different web sites have been prepared for use on the Internet, with access to data contingent on the user population. The practical application of the GIS in the field, and issues relating to evaluation of its utility in the primary care setting are detailed in this paper.