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Comparing hospital cost efficiency between Norway and Finland
Miika Linna1, Unto Häkkinen, Jon Magnussen
1Stakes/CHESS, Lintulahdenkuja 4, PO Box 220, FIN-00531 Helsinki, Finland. miika.linna@stakes.fi
Health Policy (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
|September 1, 2005
Summary
Finnish and Norwegian hospitals show significant cost efficiency differences. Norwegian hospitals were 17-25% less efficient on average, highlighting the value of international healthcare comparisons.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Health Economics
- Comparative Healthcare Analysis
Background:
- International comparisons of healthcare expenditure are common.
- Assessing cost efficiency within and between national healthcare systems is crucial for resource allocation.
- Standardized methodologies are needed for accurate cross-country efficiency evaluations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the cost efficiency of public hospitals in Finland and Norway.
- To identify variations in cost efficiency within and between the two countries.
- To demonstrate the utility of integrated cost efficiency analysis in international healthcare comparisons.
Main Methods:
- Utilized cross-sectional data from 47 Finnish and 51 Norwegian public hospitals in 1999.
- Employed national discharge data and hospital year-end accounts for cost and output measures.
- Applied nonparametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) to calculate cost efficiency.
Main Results:
- Significant differences in cost efficiency were observed both within Finland and Norway, and between the two countries.
- Preliminary results indicated greater variation in cost efficiency among Finnish hospitals.
- On average, Norwegian hospitals exhibited 17-25% lower cost efficiency compared to Finnish hospitals.
Conclusions:
- There are substantial differences in hospital cost efficiency between Finland and Norway.
- The study underscores the importance of incorporating cost efficiency analysis into international healthcare expenditure comparisons.
- Further research with caution is recommended to validate these preliminary findings.
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