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. 2022 Sep 29;22(1):1213.
doi: 10.1186/s12913-022-08540-y.

The impact of human resources for health on the health outcomes of Chinese people

Jingjing Cheng  1 , Xianming Kuang  2 , Linghuang Zeng  3
Affiliations

The impact of human resources for health on the health outcomes of Chinese people

Jingjing Cheng et al. BMC Health Serv Res. .

Abstract

Human resources for health (HRH) is a cornerstone in the medical system. This paper combined data envelopment analysis (DEA) with Tobit regression analysis to evaluate the efficiency of health care services in China over the years between 2007 and 2019. Efficiency was first estimated by using DEA with the choice of inputs and outputs being specific to health care services and residents' health status. Malmquist index model was selected for estimating the changes in total factor productivity of provinces and exploring whether their performance had improved over the years. Tobit regression model was then employed in which the efficiency score obtained from the DEA computations used as the dependent variable, and HRH was chosen as the independent variables. The results showed that all kinds of health personnel had a significantly positive impact on the efficiency, and more importantly, pharmacists played a critical role in affecting both the provincial and national efficiency. Therefore, the health sector should pay more attention to optimizing allocation of HRH and focusing on professional training of clinical pharmacists.

Keywords: Data envelopment analysis (DEA); Human resources for health (HRH); Malmquist index; Residents’ health status; Tobit regression.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Medical services efficiency in China at the national level. Note: Pure technical efficiency were on the secondary axis
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The Theil indexes of HRH distribution in China
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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