Abstract:

Objective     To evaluate the efficiency of the community health services of 31 provincial regions in China. Methods      The community health service efficiency was calculated with super-efficiency data envelopment analysis(SE-DEA), one of the nonparameter approaches, and the relative efficiencies of different provincial regions in 2009 were compared. Results      Non-DEA efficiencies existed in 19 regions. From the viewpoint of input-output redundancy, the community health institutions and the sickbeds were underused in 11 and 14 regions respectively, and the staffs were redundant in 3 regions. From the viewpoint of output, the inpatients and the training for health care were deficient in 2 regions. Furthermore, the children health care management rate in 15 regions and the disease prevention in 16 regions should be improved. Conclusions     As far as community health service is concerned, except for focus on facilities supply and matching, the medical service management should be strengthened, and the technology should be advanced. Besides medical services, other services, such as healthcare, disease prevention, and rehabilitation, also need to be improved.

Key words: Super-efficiency data envelopment analysis; Community health services institutions; Efficiency evaluation