International journal for equity in health
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Int J Equity Health · Aug 2016
Evaluation of performance and impacts of maternal and child health hospital services using Data Envelopment Analysis in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China: a comparison study among poverty and non-poverty county level hospitals.
As the core of the county-level Maternal and Child Health Hospitals (MCHH) in rural areas of China, the service efficiency affects the fairness and availability of healthcare services. This study aims to identify the determinants of hospital efficiency and explore how to improve the performance of MCHH in terms of productivity and efficiency. ⋯ The overall operational efficiency of the county-level MCHHs in Guangxi was low and needs to be improved. Regional economic differences affect the performances of hospitals. Health administrations should adjust and optimize the resource investments for the different areas. For the hospitals in poverty areas, policy-makers should not only consider the hardware facilities investment, but also the introduction of advanced techniques and high-level medical personnel to improve their technical efficiency.