Regional Performance Measurement of Healthcare Systems in the EU: A Non-parametric Approach

Abstract

The main purpose of the article is to estimate the regional performance of healthcare systems within the EU at the NUTS 2 level. Using multiple regional inputs and outputs to characterize healthcare provision, non-parametric methodology is applied to evaluate the relative efficiency of 151 regions in old EU member states (EU-15) and 54 regions in new EU member states (EU-13) in the period 2007–2012. The empirical results show that efficiency differs significantly across the selected regions. In general, less developed regions show a relatively high level of efficiency whereas capital regions seem to be the least efficient regions since they mainly serve as national medical centres employing a disproportionally large amount of health resources. The empirical study also finds evidence of the potential to improve health outcomes by ensuring a sufficient level of healthcare resources in those regions that are lagging behind significantly.