Measuring performance in non-profit organisations: the case of Greek public hospitals

Abstract

This paper examines how efficiently 26 public general hospitals of the Greek National Health System (ESY) manage their resources, in 2009, and looks into how variables, such as hospital size, location, teaching mission, bed occupancy rate and average length of stay, are interrelated with efficiency scores. Data examination takes place through data envelopment analysis and Tobit regression analysis. The selected variables used to illustrate production are: number of beds and personnel (headcount) as inputs and as outputs number of patient admissions, number of patient days and number of outpatient visits. The DEA model is input and output oriented, allowing for constant return to scale, and units are ranked with a benchmarking approach. The results show that 34.6% of Greek hospitals are efficient, with a mean efficiency score of 88.9%, and confirm that hospital’s bed occupancy rate, average length of stay and teaching mission are significant explanatory variables of technical efficiency.