Introduction to Evolving Technologies in

Health Care I: Geographic Information

Systems

Dr Mohammad Abu-Mahfouz
March 12, 2024 1
 Teaching Methods
Visual PPT
Group Discussion

March 12, 2024 2

 Outlines
➢ What are Emerging Technologies in healthcare?
➢ Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
➢ Functions of GIS
➢ What can you do with GIS?
➢ Geographic Information Systems in Healthcare
➢ GIS Process in Health Care
➢ Factors Hindering the Wider Use of GIS and Exchange of Geo-Information in Healthcare
➢ Potential Benefits of GIS
➢ Limitations of GIS

March 12, 2024 3

 Objectives
By the end of this lecture, students will be able to:

➢ Explore emerging technologies in healthcare and their potential impact.

➢ Define Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and understand its functionalities
➢ Demonstrate the diverse applications of GIS.
➢ Examine the specific role and value proposition of GIS in the healthcare sector.
➢ Analyze the workflow of GIS in healthcare, including data input, storage, and manipulation.
➢ Evaluate the potential benefits and limitations of using GIS in healthcare, along with factors hindering
its wider adoption.

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 What are Emerging Technologies in healthcare?

➢ Emerging technologies in healthcare are those that are being used to improve the quality of care.

➢ These technologies include:

✓ Geographic information systems

✓ Artificial intelligence, expert systems, decision support systems
✓ Virtual Reality
✓ Nanotechnology/nanomedicine
✓ Medical/surgical robotics
✓ Data mining
✓ Internet
✓ Telemedicine
✓ Wearable devices
✓ Genomics
✓ 3D Printing

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 Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

➢ Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are

computer systems that allow users to store,
analyze, and interpret data that has a geographic
location.

➢ Integrated & organized set of hardware &

software tools used for manipulation &
management of digital, spatial (geographic) &
related attribute data.

➢ Computer mapping & analysis technology that

allows large quantities of information to be
viewed & analyzed within a geographic
context.

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 Functions of GIS

➢ Turns data into information & information

into knowledge

➢ This Allows user to:

➢ View
➢ Understand
➢ Question
➢ Interpret
➢ Visualize data

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 What can you do with GIS?
1. Map Where Things Are

➢ Mapping where things are lets you find

places that have the features you're looking
for, and see where to take action

✓ Find a feature—People use maps to see

where or what an individual feature is.

✓ Finding patterns—Looking at the

distribution of features on the map instead of
just an individual feature, you can see Maps of the locations of earthquake shaking hazards are essential to creating and
patterns emerge. updating building codes used in the United States.

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 What can you do with GIS?

Map Where Things Are

March 12, 2024 9

http://www.healthmap.org
 Find others with your symptoms

http://whoissick.org/sickness/
 Find others with your symptoms

http://whoissick.org/sickness/
 What can you do with GIS?
2. Map Quantities

➢ People map quantities, like where the most and least are, to find places that meet their
criteria and take action, or to see the relationships between places.

➢ This gives an additional level of information beyond simply mapping the locations of
features.

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 What can you do with GIS?
2. Map Quantities

The number of children under 18 per clinically active pediatrician for a particular study area.

March 12, 2024 14

 What can you do with GIS?
2. Map Quantities (other examples)

➢ A catalog company selling children's clothes would want to find ZIP Codes not only around
their store but those ZIP Codes with many young families with relatively high income

➢ Public health officials might not only want to map physicians, but also map the numbers of
physicians per 1,000 people in each census area to see which areas are adequately served,
and which are not

March 12, 2024 16

 What can you do with GIS?
• 3. Map Densities (concentration)

➢ While you can see concentrations by simply mapping the locations of features, in areas with
many features it may be difficult to see which areas have a higher concentration than others

➢ A density map lets you measure the number of features using a uniform areal unit, such as
square miles, so you can clearly see the distribution

March 12, 2024 17

 What can you do with GIS?
• 3. Map Densities (concentration)

➢ Mapping density is especially useful when mapping areas, such as census areas or
counties, which vary greatly in size.

➢ On maps showing the number of people per census area, the larger areas might have
more people than smaller ones.

➢ But some smaller areas might have more people per square mile—a higher density

March 12, 2024 18

 Percent of vacant
housing units in
Conover, WI

U.S. Census Bureau American FactFinder website

http://factfinder.census.gov
 What can you do with GIS?
• 3. Find What's Inside

➢ Use GIS to monitor what's happening and to take specific action by mapping what's
inside a specific area‫ز‬

➢ For example, a district attorney would monitor drug-related arrests to find out if an
arrest is within 1,000 feet of a school--if so, stiffer penalties apply

➢ For example, you would monitor infectious disease spreading in a certain district to find
out the pattern of the case distribution —if so, the proper action should be taken.

March 12, 2024 24

 What can you do with GIS?
• 4. Find What's Nearby

➢ Find out what's occurring

within a set distance of a
feature by mapping
what's nearby

The Pacific Disaster Center has developed and applied a Vulnerability-

Exposure-Sensitivity-Resilience model to map people and facilities (what's
nearby) exposed to flood risk in the Lower Mekong River Basin (the feature)

March 12, 2024 25

 What can you do with GIS?
5. Map Change

➢ Map the change in an area to anticipate future conditions, decide on a course of action, or
evaluate the results of an action or policy.

➢ By mapping where and how things move over a period of time, you can gain insight into
how they behave.

➢ For example, we might study the paths of storms to predict where and when they might
occur in the future.

➢ For example, a police chief might study how crime patterns change from month to month to
help decide where officers should be assigned.

March 12, 2024 26

These images are from a poster titled "Losing Cape Cod," which is distributed by the Woods Hole Research Center in Woods Hole,
Massachusetts. The poster shows the severe change in land use on Cape Cod since 1951. The image on the left shows the town of Barnstable in
1951 and the image on the right shows Barnstable in 1999.
 Geographic Information Systems in Healthcare

➢ GIS can be used for a variety of purposes, including:

✓ GIS can be used to map the locations of disease outbreaks, which can help public health
officials identify trends and target interventions. For example, GIS was used to track the
spread of the Zika virus in 2016.

✓ GIS can be used to identify areas with high rates of chronic diseases, such as obesity or
diabetes. This information can be used to target public health programs and resources to the
communities that need them most.

March 12, 2024 28

 Geographic Information Systems in Healthcare

✓ GIS can be used to monitor environmental hazards, such as air pollution or water
contamination or lead exposure. This information can be used to assess the potential health
impacts of these hazards and to develop strategies to mitigate them.

✓ GIS can be used to allocate healthcare resources more effectively. For example, GIS can be
used to identify areas with a shortage of doctors or hospitals.

✓ GIS can plot (maps) disease cases on a map, allowing you to see clusters, hotspots, and
overall geographic trends. This can reveal hidden patterns that wouldn't be evident in raw
data.

March 12, 2024 29

 Geographic Information Systems in Healthcare

✓ GIS can be used to monitor environmental hazards, such as air pollution or water
contamination or lead exposure. This information can be used to assess the potential health
impacts of these hazards and to develop strategies to mitigate them.

✓ GIS can be used to allocate healthcare resources more effectively. For example, GIS can be
used to identify areas with a shortage of doctors or hospitals.

✓ GIS can plot (maps) disease cases on a map, allowing you to see clusters, hotspots, and
overall geographic trends. This can reveal hidden patterns that wouldn't be evident in raw
data.

March 12, 2024 30

 Map of Cuyahoga County shows the
release of various toxic
chemicals and their locations.

Notice that as you move further

east, west, or south in Cuyahoga
County,

the blue becomes much lighter,

indicated less chemicals.

Within Cleveland area, there is a

fairly high concentration of
toxic chemical releases

http://urban.csuohio.edu/nodis/gis_mapgallery.html
 Geographic Information Systems in Healthcare
➢ GIS allows you to connects disease data with other geographic data layers like population
density, socioeconomic status, or environmental factors. This helps identify potential
correlations between disease occurrence and these factors.

➢ GIS can pinpoint the location of hazardous waste sites and create detailed maps. This allows
for easy visualization of where these sites are situated relative to communities.

March 12, 2024 32

 Geographic Information Systems in Healthcare
➢ GIS can be also used to:

✓ Characterize urban pertussis infections

✓ Identify high risk TB areas

✓ Study urban infant mortality

✓ Model patient flows to hospitals for healthcare planning

March 12, 2024 33

 GIS Process in Health Care

March 12, 2024 34

 GIS Process in Health Care

March 12, 2024 35

 GIS Process in Health Care
1. Data Input (Entry)

➢ Allows user to capture, collect, & transform spatial & thematic data into digital form

➢ Inputs usually derived from:

✓ Hard copy maps

✓ Aerial (in-flight) photographs
✓ Remotely sensed images
✓ Reports, survey documents, etc.

➢ Digitize maps, which means that the system captures spatial data for map preparation.

March 12, 2024 36

 GIS Process in Health Care
1. Data Input (Entry)

➢ Spatial data is any type of data that directly or indirectly references a specific
geographical area or location (e.g., a map displaying buildings within a city's downtown
region).

➢ Attribute data is data whole that identify, position, time and describe a spatial object
(e.g., the name associated with a particular street, the population of a particular city, or
the median household income of a postal code area)

March 12, 2024 37

 GIS Process in Health Care
2. Data Storage & Retrieval

➢ Organizes the data, spatial & attribute, into form quickly retrieved for analysis.

➢ Permits rapid & accurate updates to be made to the database.

✓ Uses database management system (DBMS) for maintaining attribute data

✓ Spatial data encoded & maintained in a proper file format (ie., specific to the program)

March 12, 2024 38

 GIS Process in Health Care
3. Data Manipulation and Analysis

➢ Commonly thought of as heart of a GIS

➢ Allows user to define & execute spatial & attribute procedures that generates derived
information

➢ Produce various types of data analyses, including a capability for defining such
conditions as adjacency, inclusion, and proximity

March 12, 2024 39

 GIS Process in Health Care
4. Data Output

➢ Allows user to generate graphic displays, normally maps

➢ Allows user to generate tabular reports

➢ Produce output in several formats (maps, graphs, and tables)

➢ Produce high-quality thematic maps, since different output formats can be employed
simultaneously and adaptable editing tools are available

March 12, 2024 40

 Factors Hindering the Wider Use of GIS and Exchange of Geo-Information in Healthcare

1. Human and financial resources issues:

➢ Work-time constraints and insufficient staff and financial resources to implement systems fully
and to undertake data exchange duties with other organizations

➢ Lack of skills and insufficient training or guidance

March 12, 2024 41

 Factors Hindering the Wider Use of GIS and Exchange of Geo-Information in Healthcare

2. Spatial data and metadata issues:

➢ Lack of digital data in appropriate formats

➢ Problems ensuring data quality

➢ Data confidentiality issues and the currently ambiguous criteria to conform to data
confidentiality requirements

➢ Lack of a comprehensive and up-to-date central metadata

March 12, 2024 42

 Factors Hindering the Wider Use of GIS and Exchange of Geo-Information in Healthcare

3. Geospatial awareness, strategy, and policy issues:

➢ Limited awareness of the benefits of geo-information

➢ Lack of demand from within some organizations to the use of GIS (e.g., directors not being
aware of value of GIS rather than not being committed to GIS)

➢ Lack of clear GIS strategy and a clear organizational policy for exchanging data

March 12, 2024 43

 Potential Benefits of GIS
➢ Improve decision making (clinical/public health and organizational/managerial)

➢ Improve service and health outcomes.

➢ Reduce health inequalities & reduce costs.

➢ Promote cooperation with other partner organizations and government departments through a culture
of data sharing and joined-up working
➢ The ability to efficiently and effectively share, compare, and integrate data silos will ultimately result
in more informed & better outcomes across all involved organizations and departments

➢ Profiling & understanding the varying needs of target communities; profiling their environment &
health & social services available to them

March 12, 2024 44

 Nursing and GIS--examples
➢ Visualizing nursing workforce distribution for policy evaluation

➢ Designing population-based health interventions

➢ Providing public health nursing education and practice

➢ Conducting community assessment and nursing research

March 12, 2024 45

 Nursing and GIS--Examples
➢ GIS allow us to examine questions such as “what would happen if community nurses introduce
telephone or Web-based support for patients with diabetes recently discharged from hospital?”

➢ The various facets of this intervention (availability of telephone services, availability of broadband
internet, relative costs and reliability of these services, socioeconomic data) could be mapped by
geographical location, and a decision could be made about feasibility of the service

March 12, 2024 46

 Nursing and GIS--Examples
➢ GIS allow for establishing Models of care that can cope with the rising demand for health and social
services, one inevitable consequence of an aging population

➢ GIS will be needed for more effective joined-up community care services needed to support the
growing elderly population

March 12, 2024 47

 Limitations of GIS
➢ Presentation of the results can make the data look more conclusive than it truly is.

➢ Geographic boundary files with software packages may be inadequate for some studies

➢ Sophisticated studies may require data that is not part of the basic software package.

➢ Government sources data is free of charge but may be limited.

➢ Commercially prepared data may be better but more expensive.

March 12, 2024 48

 Limitations of GIS
➢ Costs associated with the consultative services of a GIS specialist are expensive (Software packages
for GIS applications are expensive (ranging from $250 to more than $10,000).

➢ Software used by local government agencies may not be compatible with the research system.

➢ Some see GIS as an overly expensive & complicated way to do things that could be done with paper
& pencil

March 12, 2024 49

 Abu
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12 March 2024 50 RN,
MS