IMPORTANCE OF IMPLEMENTING ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES IN THE PROCESS OF ASSESSMENT OF HEALTHCARE EFFICIENCY THROUGH DEA

In this paper, the regional efficiency of healthcare facilities in Slovakia is measured (2008 – 2015) using a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The window DEA was chosen since it leads to increased differentiation of results, especially when applied to small samples, and it enables year-by-year comparisons of the results. Two inputs (number of beds, number of medical staff) and two outputs (use of beds, average nursing time) were chosen as variables in output-oriented 4-year window DEA model for the assessment of technical efficiency in 8 Slovak regions. As the regional efficiency is driven by natural, historical, macro-economic and political conditions, in the next stage the impact of environmental factors on efficiency is examined. The results have confirmed that the public costs, private costs, departments, higher education, population over 65, life expectancy, wage costs, population size and income inequality indicator s80/s20 are statistically significant and therefore affect the efficiency of healthcare facilities in Slovakia.