Efficiency in health services based on professionals consensus quality indicators

Technical efficiency and its determinants in healthcare systems of underdeveloped countries

This study aims to evaluate the technical efficiency levels of healthcare systems in underdeveloped countries and to reveal the impact of COVID-19 along with some other factors on the efficiency levels via a two-stage data envelopment analysis. The study covers panel data from 2013 to 2020. The results show that technical efficiency scores decreased during the pandemic period. It is also understood from the results that immunization and the ratio of population ages 65 and above have significant and negative effects on inefficiency scores while carbon dioxide emissions have significant and positive effects. It is thought that the results of this study can guide decision-makers regarding efficiency gains in healthcare systems.

Optimising nutrition and consumption for better health: An analysis of noncommunicable disease strategies in the organisation for economic co‐operation and development nations

The role of nutrition in promoting health and reducing the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is vital, yet both inadequate and excessive food consumption can be detrimental. Moreover, excessive smoking and alcohol consumption contribute to higher mortality rates. Countries have implemented policies, strategies, and awareness campaigns to combat NCD‐related deaths. Within this context, the study aims to assess the relative efficiency of Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) countries in preventing chronic NCDs by considering nutritional supply and smoking and alcohol consumption as inputs. It also seeks to identify countries' best policies and strategies to reduce regular NCD‐related death rates, emphasizing the importance of selecting and implementing adaptive strategies locally. This study employs slack‐based measurement (SBM) data envelopment analysis (SBM‐DEA). The mean efficiency score across the countries is 0.95, with a standard deviation of 0.09, indicating a generally high‐efficiency level. Twenty‐nine countries with an efficiency score of 1 are deemed relatively efficient. Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Korea, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, and the United States did not achieve relative efficiency in NCD management. The findings highlight the importance of considering the unique context of each country when designing and implementing NCD prevention and management strategies. The study emphasizes the need for regular evaluation and appropriate measurement methods to assess the achievement of targets and address implementation challenges. Furthermore, it highlights the significance of adopting a comprehensive, coordinated approach to ensure the effectiveness of NCD policies and underscores the need for flexibility and adaptability in addressing NCDs.

Comparison of Health Status Indicators in Iran with the Eastern Mediterranean Countries Using Multiple Attribute Decision-Making Methods

BACKGROUND

Improving public health is the main goal of healthcare systems across the world. Healthcare policymakers often use comparisons between different healthcare systems to better position their country and use the outcome to develop novel strategies to improve their own public health. The present study aimed to compare the health status indicators in Iran with those of the Eastern Mediterranean (EM) countries using the multiple attribute decision-making (MADM) methods.

METHODS

A descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2021 at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. Data on the ranking of health status indicators in EM countries were obtained from the annual publications of the World Health Organization, World Health Statistics (2016-2020). As part of the MADM mathematical models, the "criteria importance through intercriteria correlation" (CRITIC) model was used to assign weights to health status indicators. In addition, the "multi-criteria optimization and compromise solution" (VIKOR) model was used to rank the EM countries.

RESULTS

The results showed that Bahrain and Somalia ranked first and last on health status indicators, respectively. Iran was ranked fifth among the EM countries. However, while Iran has a better status on all indicators than the mean value of all EM countries, there is a significant gap between the health status in Iran compared to the top-ranked countries.

CONCLUSION

Health care strategies adopted by top-ranked countries, such as Bahrain and Qatar, can be used by Iran and other EM countries as a model to improve their healthcare system.

The Core of Healthcare Efficiency: A Comprehensive Bibliometric Review on Frontier Analysis of Hospitals

Parametric and non-parametric frontier applications are typical for measuring the efficiency and productivity of many healthcare units. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, hospital efficiency is the center of academic discussions and the most desired target for many public authorities under limited resources. Investigating the state of the art of such applications and methodologies in the healthcare sector, besides uncovering strategical managerial prospects, can expand the scientific knowledge on the fundamental differences among efficiency models, variables and applications, drag research attention to the most attractive and recurrent concepts, and broaden a discussion on the specific theoretical and empirical gaps still to be addressed in future research agendas. This work offers a systematic bibliometric review to explore this complex panorama. Hospital efficiency applications from 1996 to 2022 were investigated from the Web of Science base. We selected 65 from the 203 most prominent works based on the Core Publication methodology. We provide core and general classifications according to the clinical outcome, bibliographic coupling of concepts and keywords highlighting the most relevant perspectives and literature gaps, and a comprehensive discussion of the most attractive literature and insights for building a research agenda in the field.