Leveraging your GIS as a Collaborative Platform

Using Network Analyst to Determine Potential Coverage Area When Partnering VA with Community Resources

—Lauren Wilson, Department of Veteran Affairs/RORC-REAP/RHRC-ER

Objective: Access to care for Veterans is a VA priority. Using Network Analyst we can measure the improved access when partnering VA with community resources1 in underserved2 areas.

Methods: VA patients within and outside 60 minutes to VHA primary care in VISN3 19 were identified using Network Analyst to create "new service area" and then employing a spatial join. Subsequently similar methods were used on additional existing community facilities to determine how many Veterans would be within 60 minutes of primary care if community resources partnered with VA.

Findings: "Best case scenario": coverage increases by 15.2%. Strategic site selection was also performed: the Denver/Colorado Springs area and Salt Lake City area would each expand coverage to up to 30,000 and between 15,000 - 20,000 previously underserved patients, respectively.

Conclusions: Network Analyst tools are effective in determining the increase in geographic access and impact in cases such as partnering VA resources with already existing community resources. Using these tools we found that coverage could be extended to include 99.7% of all patients in the observed area (VISN 19).

Impact: This would increase access to primary care and encourage VHA enrollment and usage. Further research is needed to verify that this is a viable policy option 4.

1. Community Resources include facilities such as American Hospital Association (AHA), Military Treatment Facility (MTF), Rural Health Center (RHC), and Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC).
2. Underserved areas are areas in which a person's residential ZIP code centroid is more than 60 minutes to a VHA primary care.
3. Veterans Integrated Service Network
4. Geographic location is only one of many factors considered in the decision-making process of where to establish VHA.