| Summary: | Existing models for finding the optimal location for medical facilities are in some ways theoretically insupportable. Four major shortcomings can be identified: (a) dependence on the nearest-center allocation rule, (b) disregard of some qualitative factors of facility, (c) inadequate consideration of the notion of equity and efficiency, and (d) exclusion of the benefit of service providers as a component of social benefit. === This research was designed to formulate a location-allocation model that can remedy several critical weaknesses of the existing models. The equity-efficiency trade-off model, a model constructed through this research, achieves this goal by introducing three innovations: (a) inclusion of producers' surplus in addition to consumers' surplus as a component of the efficiency measure, (b) using a production-constrained model instead of an attraction-constrained one, and (c) synthesizing efforts scattered over diverse fields. === The model was tested for three service categories (gynecology, orthopedics, and surgery), using the Chongju Metropolitan Area of Korea as the application region. Comparison of the existing distribution of resources with the predicted location pattern produced by the model shows that there is a marked discrepancy between the two configurations. === In addition to the testing of the model, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to examine the effects of parameter variation on the model outputs. The analysis shows that the outputs of the model are significantly sensitive to the variance of model parameters, a finding that justifies the use of point estimates of the parameters. === Optimization (nonlinear programming) techniques were employed to operationalize the model for the Chongju region. The production-constrained gravity model was operationalized by unconstrained optimization and the solution of the trade-off model was accomplished through the Monte-Carlo integer and constrained optimization techniques. The chi-square test was used in performing the sensitivity analysis. === Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-12, Section: A, page: 4299. === Major Professor: James E. Frank. === Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.
|
|---|
