AIM: It is often difficult to measure health-related outcomes. There is no standard method or tool to evaluate the performance and efficiency of health care services. A reliable, quantitative method of evaluating the performance of primary health care service is important to ensure the most efficient usage of finite resources.
METHODS: We aimed to appraise the productivity of 33 health centers in the city of Konya using a quantitative analysis. A performance evaluation method employing input-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used. A technical productivity score of 1.0 was used to score the most productive, efficient health care.
RESULTS: Using the model developed in this study, 13 health centers (39%) were assessed technically as being fully efficient. Five health centers had a technical efficiency score of between 0.900 and 0.999. The number of health centers with an input excess was found to be higher than the number of centers that had an output deficiency.
CONCLUSION: The difference in productivity between health centers was found to be due to the difference in input rather than output. Health service managers can use this method to assess the performance of different health centers using their own fixed variables. Furthermore they can distinguish analytically the most productive and unproductive health centers and at the same time identify the causes of inefficiency. This method can used by health care professionals to better manage their facilities and organisations.
Key words: Efficiency, primary health care, data envelopment analysis Article Language: Turkish English
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