Analysis of the efficiency of regional hospitals in a Northeastern Brazilian state

ABSTRACT The Unified Health System (SUS) was created with the purpose of changing the situation of inequality in the health care of the population. The hospital, being a highly complex institution, emerges as one of the most important components of such system, mainly because there is a large investment employed in it, thus, it needs to emphasize its control of costs. The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of regional hospitals in the main regions of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, in the light of hospital indicators. This is an evaluative study of quantitative methodology, in which six hospital units were selected from the state network of the referred Brazilian state, two of each in the year 2014. All data are secondary from the official information systems and the health secretariats. The best performances, diagnosed from the indicators, were found in the large units, while the small ones presented low solubility and efficiency. Considering the role of regional reference units, which is to offer more complex medical care to the population, it is observed that the excess of small regional hospitals, with low resoluteness and efficiency, generate more expenses to the state than improvement on the quality of life of the population.