Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Dec 21:17:3267-3289.
doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S491139. eCollection 2024.

Assessing the Overall Technical Efficiency, Pure Technical Efficiency, and Scale Efficiency of United States Department of Defense Hospitals

Dongjin Oh  1 , Keon-Hyung Lee  2 , Donwe Choi  3
Affiliations

Assessing the Overall Technical Efficiency, Pure Technical Efficiency, and Scale Efficiency of United States Department of Defense Hospitals

Dongjin Oh et al. Risk Manag Healthc Policy. .

Abstract

Introduction: This study aims to evaluate US Department of Defense hospital efficiency.

Methods: Drawing on the American Hospital Association's annual survey data, the study employs data envelopment analysis, slack analysis, and the Malmquist Productivity Index to identify the differences in hospital efficiency between Air Force, Army, and Navy hospitals as well as the trends of their efficiency from 2010 to 2021.

Results: US Department of Defense hospitals operated inefficiently from 2010 to 2021, although the average technical efficiency of all DOD hospitals increased slightly during this period. The inefficiency of all US Department of Defense hospitals may be due to the lack of pure technical efficiency rather than the suboptimal scale. However, as the efficiency trends in Navy hospitals differ from those in Army and Air Force hospitals, we should be careful in addressing the inefficiency of each type of US Department of Defense hospital.

Conclusion: Informed by the findings, this study enhances our understanding of US Department of Defense hospital efficiency and the policy implications, offering practical advice to healthcare policymakers, hospital executives, and managers on managing military hospitals.

Keywords: DEA; MPI; U.S. DOD hospitals; hospital efficiency; slack analysis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Statistical Procedures.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Congressional Research Service (CRS). FY2024 Budget Request for the Military Health System. 2023; Accessed October 3, 2023. Available from https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12377.
    1. Harrison JP, Coppola MN, Wakefield M. Efficiency of federal hospitals in the United States. J Med Syst. 2004;28(5):411–422. doi:10.1023/B:JOMS.0000041168.28200.8c - DOI - PubMed
    1. Harrison JP, Coppola MN. The impact of quality and efficiency on federal healthcare. Int J Public Pol. 2007;2(3–4):356–371. doi:10.1504/IJPP.2007.012913 - DOI
    1. Harrison JP, Meyer S. Measuring efficiency among US federal hospitals. Healthcare Manager. 2014;33(2):117–127. doi:10.1097/HCM.0000000000000005 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Weeks WB, Wallace AE, Wallace TA, Gottlieb DJ. Does the VA offer good health care value? J Health Care Finance. 2009;35(4):1. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources