Greek hospitals: how well their resources are used

Abstract

The paper concerns the use of different estimation methods (parametric and non-parametric), jointly or individually, as means of ascertaining relative efficiency, as well as specific estimates of the efficient marginal costs of hospital services (inpatient days in medical care, inpatient days in surgical area, etc.) of public, general and teaching hospitals in Greece. In addition, the efficient cost of hospitals is estimated and compared with the actual cost. The estimation of efficient marginal cost of outputs is particularly useful for hospitals, and can serve as a theoretical basis for determining the prices of different hospital services. The study came to the following conclusions, among others: there are potential savings of up to 20% on hospital spending; the difference between the actual and efficient cost is 27% for general hospitals and 16% for teaching hospitals; non-efficient hospitals could produce the same result, if the daily cost per patient was reduced by 26%. The results, also, indicated that at least 4.1% of health care costs in the gross domestic product are due to inefficiencies created by public, general and teaching hospitals.