title: Spatially Enabling the Health Sector.
abstract: Spatial information describes the physical location of either people or objects, and the measured relationships between them. In this article, we offer the view that greater utilization of spatial information and its related technology, as part of a broader redesign of the architecture of health information at local and national levels, could assist and speed up the process of health reform, which is taking place across the globe in richer and poorer countries alike. In making this point, we describe the impetus for health sector reform, recent developments in spatial information and analytics, and current Australasian spatial health research. We highlight examples of uptake of spatial information by the health sector, as well as missed opportunities. Our recommendations to spatially enable the health sector are applicable to high- and low-resource settings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Government of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia; Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information, Carlton, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Tarun Stephen
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Weeramanthri
authors.affiliation: Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information, Carlton, VIC, Australia; Global Spatial Network Board, Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information, Carlton, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Woodgate
keywords: end-user development; health information; health reform; health sector; innovation; spatial information; technology