Enhancing Health Productivity in China: A Decade of Measurement and Regional Insights (2010-2020).

Abstract

Background: Enhancing health productivity is a pressing priority to promote the Healthy China Initiative. This study aims to assess the efficiency of health production and to analyze the disparities in efficiency across regions.

Methods: A multi-dimensional approach is used to assess the health efficiency of 31 provinces in China over the period 2010 to 2020. The analysis incorporates the conventional BCC model, the super-efficient SBM model, and the Malmquist index model within the framework of DEA modeling. And using the Dagum Gini coefficient to further analyze the differences in health productivity of China.

Results: The BCC model calculated China's comprehensive health production efficiency in 2020 to be 0.732. The SBM model assessed the average health productivity value among China's provinces in 2020, revealing Guangdong as the highest (2.276) and Qinghai as the lowest (0.351). The average value of China's Malmquist Index from 2010 to 2020 was 1.002, indicating a slight overall improvement in health production efficiency. Furthermore, the score of technological change and technological efficiency change in five provinces were more than 1. Gini coefficient had obvious downward trend from 2010 to 2020, and there was a lower level in the northeastern (0.055) and eastern (0.0989) regions.

Conclusion: Though the whole health productivity of China has been on the rise, health production efficiency in many provinces still needs to be improved. Inequities in health services provision persist, particularly between the eastern and western regions. The government should play a significant role in establishing standardized criteria for regular evaluation of health production efficiency levels. It's suggested to utilize digital health technologies to facilitate the exchange of information among different regions in China, thereby fostering collaborative efforts to improve overall health outcomes.