Research On Operation Efficiency Of County-level Chinese Medicine Hospitals In Anhui Province Based On DEA Model

Objective: The financial statements of all the county-level Chinese medicine hospitals were collected and collated from 2007 to 2013. The operation efficiency, variation trend, excess input and output shortage were all analyzed and evaluated for providing evidence for policy-making and improving efficiency.Method: Under the assistance of Anhui Provincial Commission of Health and Family Planning, we collected the financial statements of all the county-level Chinese medicine hospitals and built a database. Basing on the literature review and focus groups discussions, we established theoretical basis and formed the final research proposal. By the use of the descriptive statistics, we descripted the development status of the input of the county-level Chinese medicine hospitals in Anhui Province. The average speed of growth was used for assessing the development of the input and output between 2007 and 2013. The CCR model and BCC model of Data Envelopment Analysis were employed to evaluate the operation efficiency of all the county-level Chinese medicine hospitals in Anhui Province.Result: There were 58 county-level Chinese medicine hospitals in Anhui Province, including 17 in northern Anhui, 22 in central Anhui and 19 in southern Anhui. Generally, the input of health technical personnel, medical beds, service occupancy and medical expenses were all on the rise and the average speeds of growth of them were 10.50%,14.33%,12.50% and 35.36%, respectively. The output of outpatients, inpatients and medical income were also on the rise and the average speeds of growth of them were 10.74%, 19.05% and 38.75%, respectively. The average overall technical efficiency was o.85, whose average speed of growth was 2.22%. The average pure technical efficiency was 0.89, whose average speed of growth was 1.34%. The average scale efficiency was 0.95, whose average speed of growth was 0.88%. It was observed that excess input and output shortage were generally existedin county-level Chinese medicine hospitals in Anhui Province.Conclusion: The input of county-level Chinese medicine hospitals developed fast. Through the comprehensive reform of county-level hospitals, county-level Chinese medicine hospitals should try to catch up to the county-level comprehensive hospitals. The service ability of county-level Chinese medicine hospitals has improved. And the superiorities and service ability of Chinese medicine should be enhanced, too. The operational efficiency tended to be higher. The policies and measures of the comprehensive reform of county-level hospitals should be consolidated. The resource use efficiency was low and a good health planning was needed. There were Regional differences in the development of county-level Chinese medicine hospitals and the gap should be narrowed and deleted by achieving the balance between fairness and efficiency.