ABSTRACT
Introduction: The rise in healthcare costs, population and technology development has led to an increased demand to consider productivity issue in hospitals and other medical centers to provide, preserve and promote public health services. The aim of this study was to analysis the productivity in hospitals affiliated to Iran and Tehran universities of medical sciences
Methods: In this study, partial and marginal productivity of each factor of production, as well as the total factor productivity changes of hospitals affiliated to Iran and Tehran universities of medical sciences were calculated using Kendrick-Kerimer and Malmquist indexes in 2006-2011
Results: The average total of productivity changes was 1.012 which implies a decrease in productivity during the study. The rate of reduction was 1.2, mostly affected by technological efficiency changes compared with other factors. Scale efficiency changes, managerial efficiency and technical efficiency were the next effective factors. Total productivity, checked with Kendrick-Kerimer index, was affected by productivity of active bed input
Conclusion: Lack of knowledge on the part of hospital staff concerning the proper use of technology in patients' treatment is the main cause of productivity loss caused by technological changes in these hospitals. Therefore, it is recommended to hold training courses for staff on the correct use of technology in diagnosis and taking care of patients
ABSTRACT
The recognition of economics of hospitals, as integral and costly components of health care systems, is vital for assessing their efficiency and the factors affecting them. The study through Data Envelopment Analysis [DEA] aimed to determine the efficiency of selected hospitals of Urmia University of Medical Sciences. This was a descriptive-analytic [cross-sectional and retrospective] study conducted in 2009. Input variables included the number of active beds, doctors and other personnel and output variables encompassed outpatients' admission and occupied day-bed. The data were analyzed through DEA method and Deap [2.1] software with variable return to scale assumption. Slack and radial movements, the efficiency of the hospitals and the excessive use of inputs were determined. The mean scores of technical, managerial and scale efficiency of the hospitals were 0.584, 0.782 and 0.771, respectively. Four hospitals enjoyed the maximum technical efficiency [1]. The capacity of efficiency enhancement was about 41.5% without any increase in costs, applying the same amount of inputs. A decrease of surplus production factor based on the results of DEA can lead to a reduction in expenditures. In hospitals with technical efficiency of less than one, the original and projected values of inputs were different and had a surplus. It is suggested that hospitals decrease their surplus from original values to achieve the expected optimal performance. The results could be applied in hospitals as a benchmark for decision making about resource allocation, controlling and improving hospital performance