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Measuring efficiency in acute care hospitals: an application of data envelopment analysis
D A Dittman1, R Capettini, R C Morey
1School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University.
Journal of Health and Human Resources Administration
|February 3, 1992
Summary
This study demonstrates how Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) can assess hospital efficiency using national data. DEA provides relative efficiency scores for healthcare administrators and planners to identify areas for operational improvement.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Operations Research
- Health Economics
Background:
- Hospital efficiency is crucial for healthcare resource allocation and planning.
- Assessing hospital operational performance requires robust analytical methods.
- Existing methods may not fully capture the multi-dimensional nature of hospital efficiency.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate the utility of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) for evaluating hospital efficiency.
- To provide hospital administrators and healthcare planners with a tool for performance assessment.
- To illustrate the application of DEA using national hospital data.
Main Methods:
- Utilized national data from the American Hospital Association's Monitrend Data Service.
- Applied Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to assess relative efficiencies of hospitals.
- Selected input and output variables based on reasonableness and data availability.
Main Results:
- DEA provides relative efficiency scores, indicating how well hospitals perform compared to peers.
- The analysis highlights potential areas where hospitals may be operating inefficiently.
- Efficiency scores are conservative, giving hospitals the benefit of the doubt.
Conclusions:
- Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a valuable tool for hospital administrators and healthcare planners.
- DEA can identify inefficient hospital operations in a demonstrable way.
- Further research could refine DEA models with additional inputs/outputs and consensus on variable selection.
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