Surgical services efficiency by data envelopment analysis

Purpose – Different surgical services demand operating rooms (OR) to treat elective patients, each competing for a limited supply of OR time. The purpose of this paper is to obtain empirical measures of performance in the management of OR. The current research compares technical efficiency of 11 specialties in elective operating theatre of Alzahra Hospital in Isfahan, Iran in autumn of 2009. Design/methodology/approach – Data envelopment analysis (DEA) can be used as tools in management control and planning. First, the input oriented and variable returns to scale model of DEA technique has been applied and separate benchmarks for possible reductions in resources used has been derive, and significant savings are possible on this account. Findings – The efficiency scores of inefficient specialties are between 0.62 and 0.96. Neurosurgery and general surgery are the best and the worst units. DEA results determine by how much hospitals can increase elective inpatient surgeries for each specialty. Originality/value – The originality of this study is to obtain empirical measures of performance in the management of OR. DEA has not been applied to measure the efficiency of different department in an organization. The measures are common in different units and have been collected in a similar way.