Resource allocation efficiency in 68 county-level traditional Chinese medicine hospitals in China: a data envelopment analysis

Abstract

Objective Analysing and evaluating how efficiently health resources are allocated to county-level Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) hospitals in Zhejiang Province, this study aims to provide empirical evidence for improving operational efficiency and optimising resource allocation in these hospitals.Design and setting The study employed a three-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model to assess efficiency, using data from 68 county-level TCM hospitals. Four input and five output variables related to TCM services were selected for the analysis.Results The first-stage DEA results indicated that in 2022, the technical efficiency (TE) of TCM hospitals in Zhejiang Province was 0.788, the pure technical efficiency (PTE) was 0.876 and the scale efficiency (SE) was 0.903. The classification of hospitals into four groups based on the bed size showed statistically significant differences in returns to scale (p<0.001). The Stochastic Frontier Analysis regression results were significant at the 1% level across four regressions, showing that environmental variables such as per capita GDP, population density and the number of hospitals impacted efficiency. In the third stage DEA, after adjusting the input variables, the TE, PTE and SE improved to 0.809, 0.833 and 0.917, respectively. The adjusted mean TE rankings by region were West (0.860) > East (0.844) > South (0.805) > North (0.796) > Central (0.731).Conclusion There is an imbalance between the inputs and outputs of county-level TCM hospitals. Each region must consider factors such as the local economy, population and medical service levels, along with the specific development characteristics of hospitals, to reasonably determine the scale of county-level TCM hospital construction. Emphasis should be placed on improving hospital management and technical capabilities, coordinating regional development, promoting the rational allocation and efficient use of TCM resources and enhancing the efficiency of resource allocation in county-level TCM hospitals.