HEALTH EFFICIENCY MEASUREMENT IN TURKEY BYUSING DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Objective: This paper provides a systematic literature review that compiles studies on health efficiency analysis using data envelopment analysis (DEA). This study aimed to compare different researches on efficiency analysis in healthcare in Turkey. Also it was aimed to determine which decision making unit (DMU), which input and output variables were used frequently in these researches. Method: Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is one of the most commonly used efficiency measurement methods in health care. In DEA, selection of input and output variables is very important issue for assessing efficiencies of decision making units. Because this selection varies from researcher to researcher, so it is a subjective issue. In this study, studies conducted by using DEA in health care between 2010 and October 2017 have been examined. Results: For the selection of studies conducted using DEA in health care, some eliminations were made according to the criteria determined by the author. According to the results, In Turkey, DEA was frequently used in 2010. Researches are published as only articles in 2017.The greatest diversity in terms of types of the studies is in 2010. More than half of the 52 studies (approx. 62 %) selected hospital as a decision-making unit.The most frequently used input variable was identified as the number of physicians and output variable was “the number of surgical operations”. Conclusion: It is thought that this study will guide for researchers, academics and health economics to evaluate the efficiency of health care using DEA in terms of the selection of input and output variables which is the most important stage of DEA applications. Also, with this study, it has tried to create awareness for policymakers and health managers toimprove the efficiency of their organizations.