IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i23p12475-d689046.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Efficiency and Productivity of Public Hospitals in Serbia Using DEA-Malmquist Model and Tobit Regression Model, 2015–2019

Author

Listed:
  • Aleksandar Medarević

    (Institute of Public Health of Serbia, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
    Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia)

  • Dejana Vuković

    (Centre-School of Public Health and Health Management, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
    Institute of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia)

Abstract

Improving productivity within health systems using limited resources is a matter of great concern. The objectives of the paper were to evaluate the productivity, efficiency, and impact of environmental factors on efficiency in Serbian hospitals from 2015–2019. Data envelopment analysis, Malmquist index and Tobit regression were applied to hospital data from this period, and public hospitals in Serbia exhibited a great variation regarding their capacity and performance. Between five and eight hospitals ran efficiently from 2015 to 2019, and the productivity of public hospitals increased whereas technical efficiency decreased in the same period. Tobit regression indicated that the proportion of elderly patients and small hospital size (below 200 beds) had a negative correlation with technical efficiency, while large hospital size (between 400 and 600 beds), the ratio of outpatient episodes to inpatient days, bed turnover rate and the bed occupation rate had a positive correlation with technical efficiency. Serbian public hospitals have considerable space for technical efficiency improvement and public action must be taken to improve resource utilization.

Suggested Citation

  • Aleksandar Medarević & Dejana Vuković, 2021. "Efficiency and Productivity of Public Hospitals in Serbia Using DEA-Malmquist Model and Tobit Regression Model, 2015–2019," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-22, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:23:p:12475-:d:689046
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/23/12475/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/23/12475/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. William W. Cooper & Lawrence M. Seiford & Joe Zhu (ed.), 2011. "Handbook on Data Envelopment Analysis," International Series in Operations Research and Management Science, Springer, number 978-1-4419-6151-8, September.
    2. O'Neill, Liam & Rauner, Marion & Heidenberger, Kurt & Kraus, Markus, 2008. "A cross-national comparison and taxonomy of DEA-based hospital efficiency studies," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 158-189, September.
    3. Elizabeth Adamson & Janette Pow & Fiona Houston & Pamela Redpath, 2017. "Exploring the experiences of patients attending day hospitals in the rural Scotland: capturing the patient's voice," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(19-20), pages 3044-3055, October.
    4. Agata Sielskas, 2021. "Determinants of hospital inefficiency. The case of Polish county hospitals," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(8), pages 1-23, August.
    5. Sebastian Kohl & Jan Schoenfelder & Andreas Fügener & Jens O. Brunner, 2019. "The use of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in healthcare with a focus on hospitals," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 245-286, June.
    6. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    7. Berta, Paolo & Callea, Giuditta & Martini, Gianmaria & Vittadini, Giorgio, 2010. "The effects of upcoding, cream skimming and readmissions on the Italian hospitals efficiency: A population-based investigation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 812-821, July.
    8. William W. Cooper & Lawrence M. Seiford & Joe Zhu, 2011. "Data Envelopment Analysis: History, Models, and Interpretations," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: William W. Cooper & Lawrence M. Seiford & Joe Zhu (ed.), Handbook on Data Envelopment Analysis, chapter 0, pages 1-39, Springer.
    9. Zack Cooper & Stephen Gibbons & Simon Jones & Alistair McGuire, 2012. "Does Competition Improve Public Hospitals' Efficiency? Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment in the English National Health Service," CEP Discussion Papers dp1125, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    10. Thomas Czypionka & Markus Kraus & Susanne Mayer & Gerald Röhrling, 2014. "Efficiency, ownership, and financing of hospitals: The case of Austria," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 331-347, December.
    11. Monica Giancotti & Annamaria Guglielmo & Marianna Mauro, 2017. "Efficiency and optimal size of hospitals: Results of a systematic search," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(3), pages 1-40, March.
    12. Anatoly I. Pilyavsky & William E. Aaronson & Patrick M. Bernet & Michael D. Rosko & Vivian G. Valdmanis & Mikhail V. Golubchikov, 2006. "East–west: does it make a difference to hospital efficiencies in Ukraine?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(11), pages 1173-1186, November.
    13. Rize Jing & Tingting Xu & Xiaozhen Lai & Elham Mahmoudi & Hai Fang, 2019. "Technical Efficiency of Public and Private Hospitals in Beijing, China: A Comparative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-18, December.
    14. Chilingerian, Jon A., 1995. "Evaluating physician efficiency in hospitals: A multivariate analysis of best practices," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 548-574, February.
    15. Bo Hsiao & Li‐Hsueh Chen & Huei‐Ting Wu, 2019. "Assessing performance of Taiwan hospitals using data envelopment analysis: In view of ownership," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 602-616, January.
    16. Hoff, Ayoe, 2007. "Second stage DEA: Comparison of approaches for modelling the DEA score," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 181(1), pages 425-435, August.
    17. Rolf Färe & Shawna Grosskopf & Dimitris Margaritis, 2011. "Malmquist Productivity Indexes and DEA," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: William W. Cooper & Lawrence M. Seiford & Joe Zhu (ed.), Handbook on Data Envelopment Analysis, chapter 0, pages 127-149, Springer.
    18. Hacer Özgen Narcı & Yasar A. Ozcan & İsmet Şahin & Menderes Tarcan & Mustafa Narcı, 2015. "An examination of competition and efficiency for hospital industry in Turkey," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 407-418, December.
    19. Maddala,G. S., 1986. "Limited-Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521338257.
    20. Bruce Hollingsworth, 2008. "The measurement of efficiency and productivity of health care delivery," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(10), pages 1107-1128, October.
    21. Martinussen, Pã…L E. & Hagen, Terje P., 2009. "Reimbursement systems, organisational forms and patient selection: Evidence from day surgery in Norway," Health Economics, Policy and Law, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 139-158, April.
    22. repec:cai:poeine:pope_1101_0009 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Hainan Guo & Yang Zhao & Tie Niu & Kwok-Leung Tsui, 2017. "Hong Kong Hospital Authority resource efficiency evaluation: Via a novel DEA-Malmquist model and Tobit regression model," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(9), pages 1-24, September.
    24. Iveta Vrabková & Ivana Vaňková, 2021. "Efficiency of Human Resources in Public Hospitals: An Example from the Czech Republic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-14, April.
    25. Yasar A. Ozcan, 2008. "Health Care Benchmarking and Performance Evaluation," International Series in Operations Research and Management Science, Springer, number 978-0-387-75448-2, September.
    26. Robert Stefko & Beata Gavurova & Kristina Kocisova, 2018. "Healthcare efficiency assessment using DEA analysis in the Slovak Republic," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, December.
    27. Jos Blank & Vivian Valdmanis, 2010. "Environmental factors and productivity on Dutch hospitals: a semi-parametric approach," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 27-34, March.
    28. R. D. Banker & A. Charnes & W. W. Cooper, 1984. "Some Models for Estimating Technical and Scale Inefficiencies in Data Envelopment Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(9), pages 1078-1092, September.
    29. Angeliki Flokou & Vassilis Aletras & Dimitris Niakas, 2017. "A window-DEA based efficiency evaluation of the public hospital sector in Greece during the 5-year economic crisis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(5), pages 1-26, May.
    30. Victor Ngobeni & Marthinus C. Breitenbach & Goodness C. Aye, 2020. "Technical Efficiency of Provincial Public Healthcare in South Africa," Working Papers 202013, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mª Isabel Ortega-Díaz & Ricardo Ocaña-Riola & Carmen Pérez-Romero & José Jesús Martín-Martín, 2020. "Multilevel Analysis of the Relationship between Ownership Structure and Technical Efficiency Frontier in the Spanish National Health System Hospitals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-19, August.
    2. George Fragkiadakis & Michael Doumpos & Constantin Zopounidis & Christophe Germain, 2016. "Operational and economic efficiency analysis of public hospitals in Greece," Post-Print hal-01414677, HAL.
    3. Berger, Michael & Sommersguter-Reichmann, Margit & Czypionka, Thomas, 2020. "Determinants of soft budget constraints: how public debt affects hospital performance in Austria," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 116865, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. George Fragkiadakis & Michael Doumpos & Constantin Zopounidis & Christophe Germain, 2016. "Operational and economic efficiency analysis of public hospitals in Greece," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 247(2), pages 787-806, December.
    5. Panagiotis Mitropoulos & Ioannis Mitropoulos & Aris Sissouras, 2013. "Managing for efficiency in health care: the case of Greek public hospitals," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 14(6), pages 929-938, December.
    6. Berger, Michael & Sommersguter-Reichmann, Margit & Czypionka, Thomas, 2020. "Determinants of soft budget constraints: How public debt affects hospital performance in Austria," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    7. Thomas Czypionka & Markus Kraus & Susanne Mayer & Gerald Röhrling, 2014. "Efficiency, ownership, and financing of hospitals: The case of Austria," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 331-347, December.
    8. Mansour Zarrin & Jan Schoenfelder & Jens O. Brunner, 2022. "Homogeneity and Best Practice Analyses in Hospital Performance Management: An Analytical Framework," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 406-425, September.
    9. Fengyi Lin & Yung-Jr Deng & Wen-Min Lu & Qian Long Kweh, 2019. "Impulse response function analysis of the impacts of hospital accreditations on hospital efficiency," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 394-409, September.
    10. Necmi Avkiran & Alan McCrystal, 2014. "Intertemporal analysis of organizational productivity in residential aged care networks: scenario analyses for setting policy targets," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 113-125, June.
    11. Pourmahmoud, Jafar & Bagheri, Narges, 2023. "Uncertain Malmquist productivity index: An application to evaluate healthcare systems during COVID-19 pandemic," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PA).
    12. Oliver Tiemann & Jonas Schreyögg, 2012. "Changes in hospital efficiency after privatization," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 310-326, December.
    13. Sepideh Abolghasem & Mehdi Toloo & Santiago Amézquita, 2019. "Cross-efficiency evaluation in the presence of flexible measures with an application to healthcare systems," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 512-533, September.
    14. Lorena Androutsou & Michail Kokkinos & Dimitra Latsou & Mary Geitona, 2022. "Assessing the Efficiency and Productivity of the Hospital Clinics on the Island of Rhodes during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-12, November.
    15. Färe, Rolf & Karagiannis, Giannis, 2022. "Aggregating Farrell efficiencies without value data: The case of hospitals," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    16. Qian Liu & Bo Li & Muhammad Mohiuddin, 2018. "Prediction and Decomposition of Efficiency Differences in Chinese Provincial Community Health Services," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-14, October.
    17. Puertas, Rosa & Marti, Luisa & Guaita-Martinez, José M., 2020. "Innovation, lifestyle, policy and socioeconomic factors: An analysis of European quality of life," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    18. Sebastian Kohl & Jan Schoenfelder & Andreas Fügener & Jens O. Brunner, 2019. "The use of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in healthcare with a focus on hospitals," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 245-286, June.
    19. Rita Bastião & Nuno de Sousa Pereira, 2020. "Performance in the Delivery of Primary Health Care Services: A Longitudinal Analysis," CEF.UP Working Papers 2002, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    20. Bao Hoang Nguyen & Valentin Zelenyuk, 2020. "Robust efficiency analysis of public hospitals in Queensland, Australia," CEPA Working Papers Series WP052020, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:23:p:12475-:d:689046. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.