Intensive Care Unit Services Preparedness for the Pandemic: An Efficiency Analysis

Abstract

Intensive care unit (ICU) services efficiency and the shortage of critical care professionals has been a challenge during pandemic. Thus, preparing ICUs is a prominent part of any pandemic response. The objective of this study is to examine the efficiencies of ICU services in Turkey right before the pandemic. Data were gathered from the Public Hospital Statistical Year Book for the year 2017. Analysis are presented at hospital level by comparing teaching and non-teaching hospitals. Bootstrapped data envelopment analysis procedure was used to gather more precise efficiency scores. Three analysis levels are incorporated into the study such as, all public hospitals (N = 100), teaching (N = 53), non-teaching hospitals (N = 47), and provinces that are providing high density of ICU services through the country (N = 54). Study results reveal that average efficiency scores of ICU services obtained from teaching hospitals (eff = 0.65) is higher than non-teaching (eff = 0.54) hospitals. After applying the bootstrapping techniques, efficiency scores are significantly improved and the difference between before and after bootstrapping results are statistically significant (P