title: [Identification of disadvantaged areas; a system for resource allocation to family practitioners].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop a method for the identification of underprivileged areas in the Netherlands for resource allocation to general practitioners.
  
  
  METHODS
  Literature review and analysis of national data.
  
  
  METHODS
  All postal codes in the Netherlands.
  
  
  METHODS
  Definition of requirements of the method, selection of required data and calculation of deprivation scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The method developed includes an index, based on income and number of people receiving income from benefit schemes, calculated for very strongly urbanized areas. Overall 87 four-digit postal codes were identified as underprivileged areas in which 875,000 people live. About one in three inhabitants of the four largest cities is living in such area.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For the first time in the history of Dutch health care a national method for the identification of underprivileged areas was developed. This method was adopted as a basis for making enhanced payments to general practitioners for patients living in these areas. Taking into account the availability of relevant data, the method developed is the most feasible at this stage, but it is not yet perfect. This is especially true for medium sized cities. Therefore, further validation and refinement of the method are needed.
authors.affiliation: Nederlands instituut voor onderzoek van de gezondheidszorg, Utrecht.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van der Velden
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rasch
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Reijneveld
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003467:Cultural Deprivation; D005194:Family Practice / Q000191:economics*; D005260:Female; D015276:Health Care Rationing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population; D016526:Workload