Measuring efficiency of health care system of OECD member countries during pandemic COVID-19

Abstract

In this paper the health care efficiency of 32 OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) member countries dealing with COVID-19 virus is analyzed. The efficiency of health care systems is measured in June 2021 and compared to the results from June 2020, taking into account the number of tested and the number of the recovered patients. The aim is to test whether the systems have adapted and managed to increase efficiency in the fight against corona virus. DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) method is one of the most used methods in health care system in general and it is used in this paper for efficiency analysis. This method represents nonparametric technique for relative efficiency measurement with heterogeneous inputs which produce or provide heterogeneous outputs. Beside the relative efficiency index, as a basic indicator, DEA is also providing preview of reference DMUs (Decision Making Units), which is important for efficiency improvement of inefficient DMUs. Also, this method is showing target values of inputs and outputs in order to determine the quantity of how much an inefficient unit needs to reduce (increase) its inputs (outputs) in order to become efficient. Comparing the efficiency analysis results from the two years, it is shown that the average efficiency level for 32 OECD countries increases.