Identifying the scope for savings at inpatient episode level: an illustration applying DEA to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Emmanuel Thanassoulis, Maria Silva Portela, Michael Graveney

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by a largely irreversible obstruction of the airways, and is one of the leading causes of chronic morbidity and mortality worldwide. This paper illustrates the use of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to assess the potential for cost savings at COPD inpatient episode level. The analysis uses the length of stay of each episode as a surrogate for expenditure on that episode while allowing for the medical condition of the patient and the quality of care received. We find substantial possible reductions in length of stay which would translate to cost savings. The paper also explores differences both between hospitals and between care teams within hospitals so that cost efficient protocols of treatment can be identified and disseminated.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)570–582
Number of pages13
JournalEuropean Journal of Operational Research
Volume255
Issue number2
Early online date20 May 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2016

Bibliographical note

© 2016, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Keywords

  • health care
  • COPD
  • efficiency analysis

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