Exploring the association between primary care efficiency and health system characteristics across European countries: a two-stage data envelopment analysis.
BMC Health Serv Res
; 23(1): 1348, 2023 Dec 04.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38049793
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Primary care is widely seen as a core component of resilient and sustainable health systems, yet its efficiency is not well understood and there is a lack of evidence about how primary care efficiency is associated with health system characteristics. We examine this issue through the lens of diabetes care, which has a well-established evidence base for effective treatment and has previously been used as a tracer condition to measure health system performance.METHODS:
We developed a conceptual framework to guide the analysis of primary care efficiency. Using data on 18 European countries during 2010-2016 from several international databases, we applied a two-stage data envelopment analysis to estimate (i) technical efficiency of primary care and (ii) the association between efficiency and health system characteristics.RESULTS:
Countries varied widely in terms of primary care efficiency, with efficiency scores depending on the range of population characteristics adjusted for. Higher efficiency was associated with bonus payments for the prevention and management of chronic conditions, nurse-led follow-up, and a financial incentive or requirement for patients to obtain a referral to specialist care. Conversely, lower efficiency was associated with higher rates of curative care beds and financial incentives for patients to register with a primary care provider.CONCLUSIONS:
Our results underline the importance of considering differences in population characteristics when comparing country performance on primary care efficiency. We highlight several policies that could enhance the efficiency of primary care. Improvements in data collection would enable more comprehensive assessments of primary care efficiency across countries, which in turn could more effectively inform policymaking.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Contexto em Saúde:
11_ODS3_cobertura_universal
Problema de saúde:
11_financial_arrangements
Assunto principal:
Eficiência
/
Assistência Médica
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BMC Health Serv Res
Assunto da revista:
PESQUISA EM SERVICOS DE SAUDE
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Luxemburgo