Technical and scale efficiency of traditional medicine hospitals and general hospitals in inner Mongolia, China

The purpose of this study was to measure the technical and scale efficiency of 128 general hospitals and 69 traditional medicine hospitals and to estimate the possible factors influencing on the efficiency of both general hospitals and traditional hospitals in Inner Mongolia, China. In first part, Input-orientation Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was employed to compute technical efficiency and scale efficiency of both general hospital and traditional medicine hospital.In second part, ordinary least square (OLS) was used to determine the factors that affect the efficiency. The DEA analysis showed 86.7% of general hospitals and 66.7% of traditional medicine hospitals were run inefficiency in 2011.Both the two types of hospital, the average variable return to scale (VRS) technical efficiency scores were about50%and 60%, respectively. Thepattern of most general and traditional medicine hospitals scale inefficiency was increasing return to scale. The result of OLS revealed that other personal-physician ratio had a positive relationship with both types of hospital technical efficiency, bed physician ratio;number of doctor in the form of square had a positive relationship with the general hospital technical efficiency score, nurse physician ratio had a negative relationship with the general hospital technical efficiency score. However, all above three variables were insignificant for the traditional medicine hospital technical efficiency scores. Bed occupancy and geographic were insignificant for two types of hospitals’ technical efficiency. For scale efficiency scores, if outpatient visits-physician ratio increase, both two types of hospital scale efficiency were influenced positively, on the contrary, number of beds was found negatively significant. Average of bed day had a negative relationship with the efficiency and significant for the general hospital scale efficiency, but insignificant for the traditional medicine hospital. Traditional medicine hospital in other region were less scale efficient than in the city area.本研究旨在测算中国内蒙古自治区128家综合医院与69家中医医院的技术效率与规模效率，并探究影响两类医院运营效率的潜在因素。 第一阶段，本研究采用投入导向型数据包络分析（Data Envelopment Analysis，DEA），分别测算综合医院与中医医院的技术效率与规模效率。 第二阶段，采用普通最小二乘法（ordinary least square，OLS）分析影响医院效率的相关因素。 数据包络分析结果显示，2011年有86.7%的综合医院与66.7%的中医医院处于非有效运营状态。两类医院的可变规模报酬（variable return to scale，VRS）技术效率均值分别约为50%与60%。多数综合医院与中医医院的规模无效率模式均为规模报酬递增。 普通最小二乘法回归结果表明：其他人员与医师之比与两类医院的技术效率均呈显著正相关；床均医师比、医师数量的平方项与综合医院技术效率得分呈显著正相关，医护比则与综合医院技术效率得分呈显著负相关。但上述三个变量对中医医院的技术效率得分均无显著统计学意义。 床位使用率与区域位置变量对两类医院的技术效率均无显著统计学意义。 就规模效率而言，门诊量与医师之比提升时，两类医院的规模效率均会受到正向影响；反之，床位数则对规模效率呈显著负向影响。平均床日数与医院效率呈负相关关系，且该相关性对综合医院的规模效率具有统计学显著性，但对中医医院则不显著。 非城区的中医医院，其规模效率低于城区中医医院。