Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31718648›Full record

SynthesisBMC health services research2019

A systematic review on hospital inefficiency in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: sources and solutions.

Hamid Ravaghi, Mahnaz Afshari, Parvaneh Isfahani, Victoria D Bélorgeot

Erratum issuedAbstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC health services research, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  14. Changes in productivity in healthcare services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Cost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Hamid RavaghiDepartment of Health Service Management, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mahnaz AfshariDepartment of Health Service Management, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. afshari.m@tak.iums.ac.ir.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1349-2588
Parvaneh IsfahaniSchool of Public Health, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran.
Victoria D BélorgeotWorld Health Organization, Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Monazamet El Seha El Alamia Street, Extension of Abdel Razak El Sanhouri Street, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt.

Funding

World Health Organization 001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEvaluating hospital efficiency is a process to optimize resource utilization and allocation. This is vital due to hospitals being the largest financial cost in a health system. To limit avoidable uses of hospital resources, it is important to identify the sources of hospital inefficiencies and to put in place measures towards their reduction and elimination. Thus, the purpose of this research is to examine the sources of hospital inefficiency in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, and existing strategies tackling this issue.

methodsIn this study, the electronic databases MEDLINE (via PubMed), Web of Science, Embase, Google, Google Scholar, and reference lists of selected articles, were explored. Studies on inefficiency, sources of inefficiency, and strategies for inefficiency reduction in the Eastern Mediterranean region hospitals, published between January 1999 and May 2018, were identified. A total of 1466 articles were selected using the initial criteria. After further reviews based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 56 studies were eligible for this study. The chosen studies were conducted in Iran (n = 35), Saudi Arabia (n = 5), Tunisia (n = 5), Jordan (n = 4), Pakistan (n = 2), the United Arab Emirates, Palestine, Iraq, Oman, and Afghanistan (n = 1 each). These studies were analyzed using content analysis in MAXQDA 10.

resultsThe analysis showed that approximately 41% of studies used data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure hospital efficiency. Sources of hospital inefficiency were divided into four categories for analysis: Hospital products and services, hospital workforce, hospital services delivery, and hospital system leakages.

conclusionThis study has revealed some sources of inefficiency in the Eastern Mediterranean Region hospitals. Inefficiencies are thought to originate from excess workforce, excess beds, inappropriate hospital sizes, inappropriate workforce composition, lack of workforce motivation, and inefficient use of health system inputs. It is suggested that health policymakers and managers use this evidence to develop appropriate strategies towards the reduction of hospital inefficiency.

Indexed as

Efficiency, OrganizationalHospital AdministrationFemaleHumansMediterranean RegionMiddle EastOmanPakistanPregnancyTunisiaEastern Mediterranean countriesEfficiencyHospitalsSystematic review

Identifiers

PMID31718648
PMCPMC6852759

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.