Evaluation of efficiency of general hospitals in Iran

Abstract

Background and aim: Approximately 85% of Iranian hospitals are general hospitals. Considering the limitation of resourses, improvement of the hospital efficiency is an absolute necessity. Efficiency, as the output–input ratio, indicates use of the lowest amount of inputs to produce the greatest amount of outputs. The aim of this study was to determine the efficiency of general hospitals in Iran and identification of the factors affecting efficiency of the hospitals. Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional and descriptive study we used Pabon Lasso model and three performance indicators. i.e., bed occupancy rate (BO), average length of stay (ALS) and hospital bed turnover (BT) to determine efficiency of the Iranian general hospitals in 2017. Data were analyzed by SPSS software and charts were drawn using Power BI software. Results: There were 834 general hospitals with 108257 beds in Iran in 2017. The average BO, ALS and BT were 62.8%, 2.6 days and 93 times respectively. Only 15% of the general hospitals were located in the zone III of pabon lasso model and had acceptable efficiency (high BO and BT). Factors such as hospital ownership, type, size, age of hospital building, and staff number were significantly related to hospital efficiency. Private and social security hospitals, non-teaching hospitals and hospitals with 100-200 beds and 2-4 staff per bed had more efficiency in comparison to the teaching hospitals. Conclusion: Because of low efficiency of most general hospitals policy makers and senior managers should take necessary measures for improvement of efficiency of the hospitals.