The study indicates a rather low level of technical efficiency, a high level of scale efficiency in urban areas, but a fairly low level of scale efficiency in rural areas. The results show no significant differences in efficiency between different types of ownership or economic organization. The efficiency of Scottish acute hospitals - an application of data envelopment analysis. IMA J Math Appl Med Biol. Measurement of the efficiency of health services would aid the promotion of a better allocation of health care resources.
Economic analysis suggests a number of ways of defining and measuring efficiency.
However, this rarely informs measures used in health service management. DEA is applied to data from 75 UK acute hospitals. The results demonstrate the capacity of DEA to produce a user-friendly array of results, based on sound theoretical underpinnings. These range from the measurement of relative efficiencies to quantified suggestions as to how hospitals may improve efficiency, by examining both their own efficiency and that of comparable units. Information is provided both about individual hospitals and the sample as a whole.