Efficiency Measurement – a Methodological Review and Synthesis

This study reviews the methodology used to assess the efficiency of health care establishments. It finds that the most common methods do not respect all theoretical prescriptions and that models are inconsistent or incomplete. The authors then explain the desirable form for such models. Using the chosen tools (statistics, operational research or accounting), a number of intrinsically consistent models are then presented. These models all offer the same ease of use and do not require any innovation in terms of econometric methods or mathematical programming.