Using data envelopment analysis and the bootstrap method to evaluate organ transplantation efficiency in Brazil.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Public Health Policy
• Transplantation Science

Background:

• Brazil's public health system (SUS) leads global organ transplantation.
• Despite this, efficiency assessments in organ donation are rare.
• There's a critical shortage of organs for transplantation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the efficiency of Brazilian states in converting potential organ donors into actual donations.
• To identify areas for improvement in the organ donation and transplantation process.
• To contribute methodologically to benchmark analyses in health services.

Main Methods:

• Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) combined with bootstrap techniques.
• Utilized organ transplantation data from 2018.
• Applied bootstrap-biased and bias-corrected efficiency scores for robust analysis.

Main Results:

• The bootstrap bias-corrected model revealed significant potential for improvement.
• The average corrected efficiency score was 0.55.
• Brazilian states could potentially increase transplanted organs by 45% without increasing potential donors.

Conclusions:

• There is substantial room to enhance the conversion of potential donors to actual donations in Brazil.
• The study highlights the need for resource allocation improvements in specific regions.
• Incorporating measurement error, randomness, and bias is crucial for accurate DEA models in health.