A new program that will make electronic medical records available for all armed services members, their dependents, and retirees has placed the Department of Defense at the forefront of GIS application development for health care. The department will pursue a patient-centric GIS approach that focuses on the development of information around the patient, in contrast to the approach used by the computerized medical record industry that builds information around each episode or encounter a patient has with the health care system. While health care professionals in the public health sector were early adopters of GIS and continue to find new and innovative uses for this technology, the use of GIS in the private health sector has grown substantially in the last decade. Private sector use now encompasses applications in marketing and business management as well as those concerned with patient care. These applications take into consideration the unique constraints under which the health care industry must operate.
Health care is a repeat business.
Site analysis operates a little differently for hospitals and medical centers. This eliminates relocation as a method for improving the market from which hospitals draw patients and leaves health care providers with two methods of encouraging growth. Both require effective site analysis. Providers can find new markets by increasing the range of services they offer based on an analysis of patient needs, both present and future, in their market area. This allows growth without requiring relocation.