A DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS OF THE RESPONSE OF HEALTHCARE FACILITIES TO CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: EVIDENCE FROM ROMANIA

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic overwhelmed hospitals all over the world. Our paper aims to analyze the response of the Romanian hospitals to this health crisis. The objectives are to estimate the technical efficiency of 18 hospitals designated as support-units for COVID-19 treatment and to identify the optimal allocation of hospital resources for the inefficient units. Data Envelopment Analysis was used to estimate technical efficiency scores of the hospitals, under the assumption of variable returns to scale, using 3 different models. The results show that the average technical efficiency increases from one model to another, as new inputs are added. The resources allocation analysis demonstrates that a slight reduction in resources would have been possible keeping steady the outputs vector. This study is the first one regarding the impact of COVID-19 on Romanian hospitals and offers a basis for future research. Our analysis could support implementation of emergency measures in hospitals management.

Keywords

• coronavirus pandemic
• support-hospitals
• technical efficiency
• data envelopment analysis