Appraisal of efficiency and performance of public hospitals in Sanming

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the performance and efficiency of public hospitals in Sanming city, for suggestions on bettering their medical resources deployment efficiency and operational efficiency. Methods Descriptive analysis was used to longitudinally describe the general performances of such hospitals, leveraging the operating data of 21 public hospitals of the city. Meanwhile, appropriate indexes were selected to construct data envelopment analysis models for analysis of hospital operational efficiency and variations. Results Longitudinal analysis showed the operation process as stable, the efficiency as improved, and the structure as optimized thanks to the reform. Horizontal analysis found three hospitals (14% of all) as efficient in general, and seven (33%) as efficient technically. Those hospitals found as inefficient technically suffer from overinvestment or output deficiency to varying extents. Three hospitals (14%) were found with scale efficiency, while those found without scale efficiency were regarded as diminishing returns on scale. Conclusions Reforms measures must be adhered to consolidate outcomes of the ongoing reform; Regional healthcare resources planning must be consolidated to improve the efficiency of resource allocation; Delicacy management must be made to enhance service delivery capabilities. Key words: Sanming; Public hospitals; Hospital performance indicators; Data envelopment analysis; Efficiency evaluation