Public and Private Hospital Services Reform Using Data Envelopment Analysis to Measure Technical, Scale, Allocative, and Cost Efficiencies

Background: The aim of this study was to suggest a suitable context to develop efficient hospitalsystems while maintaining the quality of care at minimum expenditures.Methods: This research aimed to present a model of efficiency for selected public and privatehospitals of East Azerbaijani Province of Iran by making use of Data Envelopment Analysis approachin order to recognize and suggest the best practice standards.Results: Among the six inefficient hospitals, 2 (33%) had a technical efficiency score of lessthan 50% (both private), 2 (33%) between 51 and 74% (one private and one public) and the rest(2, 33%) between 75 and 99% (one private and one public).Conclusion: In general, the public hospitals are relatively more efficient than private ones; it isrecommended for inefficient hospitals to make use of the followings: transferring, selling, orrenting idle/unused beds; transferring excess doctors and nurses to the efficient hospitals orother health centers; pensioning off, early retirement clinic officers, technicians/technologists,and other technical staff. The saving obtained from the above approaches could be used to improveremuneration for remaining staff and quality of health care services of hospitals, rural andurban health centers, support communities to start or sustain systematic risk and resource poolingand cost sharing mechanisms for protecting beneficiaries against unexpected health carecosts, compensate the capital depreciation, increasing investments, and improve diseases preventionservices and facilities in the provincial level.