The effect of quality and socio-demographic variables on efficiency measures in primary health care

This paper aims to extend the literature on measuring efficiency in primary health care by considering the influence of quality indicators and environmental variables conjointly in a case study. In particular, environmental variables are represented by patients' characteristics and quality indi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The European journal of health economics 2014-04, Vol.15 (3), p.289-302
Main Authors: Ferrera, José Manuel Cordero, Cebada, Eva Crespo, Zamorano, Luis R. Murillo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Correlation analysis
Data envelopment analysis
Economic efficiency
Economic Policy
Efficiency
Efficiency metrics
Efficiency, Organizational
Environment
Environmental health
Health care
Health Care Management
Health Economics
Humans
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Modeling
Original Paper
Parametric models
Pharmacoeconomics and Health Outcomes
Population characteristics
Population density
Population mean
Primary care
Primary health care
Primary Health Care - organization & administration
Primary Health Care - standards
Production efficiency
Public Finance
Public Health
Quality Indicators, Health Care
Quality of care
Quality of Health Care - organization & administration
Quality of Health Care - standards
Sociodemographics
Socioeconomic Factors
Variables
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Summary:This paper aims to extend the literature on measuring efficiency in primary health care by considering the influence of quality indicators and environmental variables conjointly in a case study. In particular, environmental variables are represented by patients' characteristics and quality indicators are based on technical aspects. In order to deal with both aspects, different extensions of data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology are applied. Specifically, we use weight restrictions to ensure that the efficiency scores assigned to the evaluated units take quality data into account, and a four-stage model to identify which exogenous variables have impact on performance as well as to compute efficiency scores that incorporate this information explicitly. The results provide evidence in support of the importance of including information about both aspects in the analysis so that the efficiency measures obtained can be interpreted as an accurate reflection of performance.
ISSN:1618-7598
1618-7601
DOI:10.1007/s10198-013-0476-1