Reliability evaluation of healthcare services by assessing the technical efficiency

Classical reliability analysis techniques of manufacturing and defence industries are not a perfect fit for the assessment of the reliability of services. This is partly due to the lack of proper and valid reliability testing procedures in service systems and complications faced in identifying critical service parameters. Since most prominent performance indicators of a system can be associated with the maximum overall reliability it achieves, then factors that degrade the reliability can be identified with respect to its superior peers. This study utilizes the data envelopment analysis for the evaluation of reliability in service systems with a focus on healthcare. This approach comparably evaluates the performance of a service provider over a period of time by means of failure rates and identifies the factors affecting unreliable time phases. Application of the proposed method is illustrated with a private Turkish hospital along with an example of failure mode and effect analysis for inpatient treatment.