Data Envelopment Analysis: its Use to Measure Efficiency in Hospital Preventive Medicine Services of Andalucia

Abstract

Background: The evaluation of hospital units efficiency is a majar matter of health services management. Among the techniques to measure efficiency. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) can be used in multiple resources units (inputs) obtaining multiple products (outputs). The objective of this study is the evaluation of Hospital Prevenlive Medicine Services in Andaiucia, using the technique DEA. Methods: The Preventive Medicine Services from seven hospitals of Andalucia were selected. DEA is technique, based on a linear programming, which finds Ihe weights, which make a Service efticient in reiation with the rest. The relative efficiency of seven units was calculared. The unit with the best practice was found by means of cross efficiency matrixes. With regard to the unefficient services, their necessity of increasing activities to achieve efticiency was identifíed. Results: Two efficiency assumptions were elaborated. In the first one, 4 services were efficient (Efficiency =1) in relation with the rest. In the second one, the Service S.1 was unefficient. Among the efficient units, S.2 shown the highest average efficiency in both assumptions and appeared as the reference unit for all the unefficient ones. Conclusions: In the evaluation of Preventive Medicine Services efficiency, at least, thee of them sohown some kind of unefficiency. The Service S.2 was the point of reference for inputs and outputs selected.