Efficiency Assessment of Healthcare Resources: An In-Depth Exploration Using SFA, DEA, and Capacity Utilization Indicators

The demand for health care has increased. This demand causes an increase in the resources allocated and pressures on health managers and policymakers. Thus, it is important to evaluate the efficiency. It aimed to investigate the efficiency of the hospitals operating in Turkey. Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA), Data Envelopment Analysis (Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes Model [CCR] and Banker, Charnes and Cooper Model [BCC]), and capacity utilization indicators (bed occupancy ratio [BOR], bed turnover rate [BTR], and average length of stay [LoS]) were used. Thirty-nine of the 96 hospitals were found to be efficient according to BCC. It found that there was a strong correlation between the CCR model and SFA. It was moderate between BCC and SFA. Also, it was seen that there were significant differences between the SFA and BTR averages of the hospitals that were found to be efficient and inefficient. However, there were no significant differences between the averages of BOR and LoS. It is thought that the results obtained from different methods will help decision makers to better understand and monitor the performance of hospitals.