Exploring the implementation and underlying mechanisms of centralized referral systems to access specialized health services in Quebec

Table 1 Region size and health care organization of the Quebec study regions

	Region A	Region B	Region C
Region size	-Population: 2,069,849 inhabitants	-Population: 1,603,232 inhabitants	-Population: 525,684 inhabitants
Region size	-Density: 4155 inhabitants/square km	-Density: 144 inhabitants/square km	-Density: 12 inhabitants/square km
Health care organization	-5 CIUSSS^a regrouping 15	-3 CISSS^b	-1 CIUSSS^a
	hospital centres and 5 non-merged institutions	regrouping 9 hospital centres	regrouping 6 hospital centres
	-3,29 physicians/1000 inhabitants	-1,71 physicians/1000 inhabitants	-2,07 physicians/1000 inhabitants

^aCentres intégrés universitaires de santé et de services sociaux (English: University Health and Social Services Centres) regroup hospital centres, clinics, group homes, child protection centres, and rehabilitation centres. It is in a health region where a university offers a full undergraduate medical program and/or operates a center designated as a university institute in the health and/or social fields
^bCentres intégrés de santé et de services sociaux (English: Integrated Health and Social Services Centres) regroup hospital centers, clinics, group homes, child protection centres, and rehabilitation centres

ISSN: 1472-6963