Hospital Efficiency Assessment Through Data Envelopment Analysis

Abstract

Interest in analyzing the efficiency of hospitals and also the services provided from the use of public resources is nonstop, given the magnitude of the resources used, which are generally scarce, and the complexity involved in the provision of health care service. In this sense, the study aimed to evaluate, using data envelopment analysis (DEA), the productive efficiency of hospitals affiliated to the Unified Health System (SUS) in Southern Brazil, by way of a documentary, descriptive, retrospective and quantitative approach research. A sample of 139 hospitals located in cities with more than 100 thousand inhabitants in the states of Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina was analysed. In order to ensure better comparative results, the Clusters technique was applied to groups with similar municipalities as their inputs. The results show that among the hospitals analyzed in three groups, the maximum efficiency scores achieved were 34% of Santa Catarina hospitals, 49% of Paraná hospitals and 35% of Rio Grande hospitals. It can also be inferred that 41% of the hospitals surveyed are efficient and use efficiently the physical and personal resources available to the population's care through the SUS. Because no significant discrepancies were identified as to the scores efficiency in inefficient hospitals, it was found that most of them are near to efficiency.