Potential and realized access to healthcare services in Wuhan Metropolitan Area, China

Abstract

Healthcare accessibility is a crucial livelihood issue directly related to people’s health. Given that existing studies have often focused on residents’ potential geographic access in a single city, this study examines the access to healthcare services in Wuhan Metropolitan Area in both potential and realized dimensions. We pay particular attention to the quantitative measurement of the actual fit between healthcare services being offered and utilized. Overall, we found satisfactory potential access to healthcare facilities within reach of residential spaces in Wuhan Metropolitan Area, yet it is uneven across the nine cities and different areas. By measuring realized access through the coupling coordination degree of healthcare provision and utilization, our findings showed that except for Wuhan, all the other cities suffer from various levels of incoordination and lack resilience to public health emergencies. Taken together, this requires the regional government to formulate a more coordinated and comprehensive plan for resource allocation and to promote resource sharing among cities. Targeted policies for certain cities are also needed, to improve residents’ healthcare accessibility.