Analysis of the operational efficiency trends of tertiary public general hospitals in Shanghai

Abstract

Objective Analysis of the operational efficiency trends of and problems with the public tertiary hospitals. Methods A retrospective statistics analyzed the indicators of ten public tertiary general hospitals in Shanghai during 1997-2006. Results The outpatients number per capita for the hospital staff maintains an rising trend, averaging 12.2% per year prior to year 2000; The yearly-averaged total assets turnover of the hospitals decreases from 0.89 in 1997 to 0.69 in 2003, then maintaining unchanged; The yearly-averaged receivables turnover began to fall since 1999, falling from 21.4 in 1999 to 9.7 in 2006; hospital income growth fluctuated during the years, yet with a high level of total assets growth; given the fluctuations in asset-liability ratio, such ratio has been growing slowly, maintaining at 20 % since 2004. Conclusion Problems are found with the operational efficiency of these public tertiary general hospitals as follows: the rapid growth of productivity in such hospitals finds no concurrent improvements in assets related indicators. Against a low income ratio, high debt ratio will plague hospital development to some extent. Key words: Hospital; Operational efficiency; Change