Concept: Physician Service Areas (PSAs)

Introduction

Research results are often subdivided into different regions of Manitoba in order to compare findings. (e.g. How do pap smear numbers differ by region ?). One way to sub-divide the provincial data is into physician service areas.

The 45 physician service areas (54 if Winnipeg is further subdivided) are defined by Manitoba Health, and further developed by Ron Wall, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Leonard MacWilliam and David Patton for looking at physician utilization. A further enhancement was made to the physician service areas so they conform to the RHA boundaries. See the Physician Service Areas (PSAs) That Fit Inside the Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) concept for more information on what was developed. PSAs have been superceded by Districts which were initially developed in 2000. Please see the Regional Health Authority (RHA) Districts and Zones in Manitoba concept for more information.

Note: areas adjacent to Winnipeg are grouped into a separate classification, and since they are not part of the Winnipeg regions definition, special care should be taken.

For a list of municipalities, villages and towns in each PSA, please see Appendix 3: Physician Service Areas (PSA) Definitions in Black et al. (1999).

NOTES

• The areas are defined by municipal codes, last updated in spring of 1994, except for Treaty Status Indians. Postal Code is used for these records instead. See CAUTION below.
  
  
• It is generally a good idea to apply the region definitions to only those people with Manitoba residents postal codes since some of the formats assume this.
  
  
• Winnipeg is residual, so be sure to exclude all out-of-province people before finding the areas or they may be grouped in with Winnipeg.

Caution

• Treaty Status Indians' records are assigned using postal codes. This is done because all status First Nations people are assigned a municipal code that corresponds to their reserve, which may not be where they actually live.