The improving efficiency of university health consortium hospitals

This study evaluates the efficiency of teaching hospitals using a variable returns to scale, input oriented, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology. Hospital executives, healthcare policy-makers, taxpayers and graduate medical education benefit from studies that look to improve the efficiency of teaching hospitals. Data for 164 University Health Consortium Hospitals (UHC) in 1998 and 154 in 2001 were analyzed using DEA. The results indicate that efficiency in UHC Hospitals improved from 64.8% in 1998 to 69.6% in 2001 for an increase of 7.4%. From a management perspective, it shows opportunities for improved management and the realignment of resources to better meet demand. From a policy perspective, the research highlights the problems associated with improving efficiency while providing graduate medical education.