Analysis of factors influencing technical efficiency of public district hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa
Abstract Background District hospitals are crucial in supporting primary health care and serve as a gateway to more specialist care through a referral system. Majority of South Africans access health care services through the public sector district health system. Given the enormous task assigned to...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Human Resources for Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-022-00777-2 |
| _version_ | 1797986716266528768 |
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| author | Tesleem K. Babalola Hammed O. Ojugbele Moyad Shahwan Indres Moodley |
| author_facet | Tesleem K. Babalola Hammed O. Ojugbele Moyad Shahwan Indres Moodley |
| author_sort | Tesleem K. Babalola |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background District hospitals are crucial in supporting primary health care and serve as a gateway to more specialist care through a referral system. Majority of South Africans access health care services through the public sector district health system. Given the enormous task assigned to the public district hospital within the country, this study examined factors influencing their technical efficiency. Method Data were collected for 38 public district hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal province from 2014/15 to 2016/17. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to determine the technical efficiency of the hospitals, adopting both the constant return to scale (CRS) and variable return to scale (VRS) models. Tobit regression model was used to determine factors related to the technical efficiency of the district hospitals. Results This study showed that a significant proportion of the district hospitals were technically inefficient. The Tobit regression model identified catchment population, the proportion of inpatients treated per medical personnel, the proportion of inpatients treated per nursing personnel and expenditure per patient day equivalent as factors influencing technical efficiency of the district hospitals. Conclusion Findings from this study suggest that the technical efficiency of the district hospitals can be enhanced through an effective referral system and improved peoples’ health-seeking behaviour. In addition, a standard mix of clinical staff toward efficient service delivery and periodic cost analysis of health services with the view to saving cost and maintaining the quality of health care should be considered. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T07:36:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6ef0cb1b36d54ccaac65d5129dfbdabb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1478-4491 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T07:36:28Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Human Resources for Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-6ef0cb1b36d54ccaac65d5129dfbdabb2022-12-22T04:36:43ZengBMCHuman Resources for Health1478-44912022-11-0120111010.1186/s12960-022-00777-2Analysis of factors influencing technical efficiency of public district hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal province, South AfricaTesleem K. Babalola0Hammed O. Ojugbele1Moyad Shahwan2Indres Moodley3Program in Public Health, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook UniversityDepartment of Public Administration & Governance, Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of TechnologyCentre of Medical and Bio-Allied Health Sciences Research, Ajman UniversityDepartment of Public Health Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-NatalAbstract Background District hospitals are crucial in supporting primary health care and serve as a gateway to more specialist care through a referral system. Majority of South Africans access health care services through the public sector district health system. Given the enormous task assigned to the public district hospital within the country, this study examined factors influencing their technical efficiency. Method Data were collected for 38 public district hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal province from 2014/15 to 2016/17. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to determine the technical efficiency of the hospitals, adopting both the constant return to scale (CRS) and variable return to scale (VRS) models. Tobit regression model was used to determine factors related to the technical efficiency of the district hospitals. Results This study showed that a significant proportion of the district hospitals were technically inefficient. The Tobit regression model identified catchment population, the proportion of inpatients treated per medical personnel, the proportion of inpatients treated per nursing personnel and expenditure per patient day equivalent as factors influencing technical efficiency of the district hospitals. Conclusion Findings from this study suggest that the technical efficiency of the district hospitals can be enhanced through an effective referral system and improved peoples’ health-seeking behaviour. In addition, a standard mix of clinical staff toward efficient service delivery and periodic cost analysis of health services with the view to saving cost and maintaining the quality of health care should be considered.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-022-00777-2Technical efficiencyHospitalsHealthcareAfrica |
| spellingShingle | Tesleem K. Babalola Hammed O. Ojugbele Moyad Shahwan Indres Moodley Analysis of factors influencing technical efficiency of public district hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa Human Resources for Health Technical efficiency Hospitals Healthcare Africa |
| title | Analysis of factors influencing technical efficiency of public district hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa |
| title_full | Analysis of factors influencing technical efficiency of public district hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Analysis of factors influencing technical efficiency of public district hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Analysis of factors influencing technical efficiency of public district hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa |
| title_short | Analysis of factors influencing technical efficiency of public district hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa |
| title_sort | analysis of factors influencing technical efficiency of public district hospitals in kwazulu natal province south africa |
| topic | Technical efficiency Hospitals Healthcare Africa |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-022-00777-2 |
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