Equilibrium of Tiered Healthcare Resources during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China: A Case Study of Taiyuan, Shanxi Province.

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 has caused more than 500 million infections and 6 million deaths. Due to a continuous shortage of medical resources, COVID-19 has raised alarm about medical and health resource allocation in China. A balanced spatial distribution of medical and health resources is a key livelihood issue in promoting the equalization of health services. This paper explores the spatial allocation equilibrium of two-tier medical and health resources and its influencing factors in Taiyuan. Using extracted POIs of medical and health resources of AMAP, we evaluated the spatial quantitative characteristics through the Health Resources Density Index, researched the spatial distribution pattern by kernel density analysis, hot spot analysis, and service area analysis, and identified the influencing factors of the spatial distribution equilibrium by the Geodetector model. The findings are as follows. The overall allocation level of medical and health resources in Taiyuan is low. There are tiered and regional differences; the response degree of primary care facilities to external factors is greater than that of hospitals; and the comprehensive influence of economic and topographic systems is crucial compared with other factors. Therefore, in order to promote the rational spatial distribution of medical and health resources in Taiyuan and to improve the construction of basic medical services within a 15 min radius, it is important to continuously improve the tiered healthcare system, uniformly deploy municipal medical and health resources, and increase the resource allocation to surrounding counties and remote mountainous areas. Future research should focus on collecting complete data, refining the research scale, analyzing qualitative differences, and proposing more accurate resource allocation strategies.