ArticleHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland)2021
Balancing Equity and Efficiency in the Allocation of Health Resources-Where Is the Middle Ground?
Article in Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Evaluation of equity and efficiency in health resource allocation in underdeveloped county areas: empirical research from Guangxi, China.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- What Matters Most: The Top 10 Child and Adolescent Cancer Research Priorities in Australia.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Policy lessons regarding medical security for rare diseases inChina: Insights from Zhejiang Province through the multiplestreams framework.Intractable & rare diseases research · 2026Review
- Technical efficiency analysis of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund for the funded primary health care facilities in Nigeria.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Privatization of ophthalmology: unveiling disparities in the surgical arena.Israel journal of health policy research · 2026Observational
- Health economics in Africa: historical perspectives, current challenges, and policy recommendations for sustainable healthcare financing and resource allocation.Cost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E · 2026Review
- Article
- The Reform That Was Never Completed: Why Greece Must Redesign Its Health Financing Architecture.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Enhancing Naloxone Distribution for Opioid Users in the USA: A Cost-Utility Analysis of Academic Detailing to Clinicians.Applied health economics and health policy · 2025Article
- Global, regional, and national liver cancer attributable to smoking and alcohol use burden, 1990-2021: analysis for the global burden of disease 2021 study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Equity in the distribution of health resources and services in the West Bank, Palestine: a focus on hospitals and primary healthcare centers.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- Defining nurse-led models of care: Contemporary approaches to nursing.International nursing review · 2025Review
- The efficiency and productivity-changing trend of PHCIs since the 2009 health reform in China based on a three-stage DEA and Malmquist Productivity Index.Journal of global health · 2025Article
- Article
- Toward SDG 3 in a developing nation: the role of health expenditure, financial development, and population growth in shaping health outcomes.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- The evolution and future trajectory of public hospital reforms with a public-welfare orientation in China.Frontiers in public health · 2025Review
- Consensus on transition care for juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a Delphi study with youth, caregivers, and health professionals.Pediatric rheumatology online journal · 2024Article
- Public funding and young children vaccination coverage: Evidence from Socialist-Oriented Market Economy.Health economics review · 2024Article
- Mapping the costs and socioeconomic characteristics involved in traumatic brain injuries: a scoping review.Journal of rehabilitation medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The notion of equity in health service delivery has been embodied in several of the Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially the aspiration for universal health coverage (UHC). At the same time, escalating healthcare costs amidst dwindling resources continue to ignite discussions on the efficiency aspect of healthcare delivery at both operational and system levels. Therefore, health planners and managers have had to grapple with balancing the two, given limited resources and sophisticated population health needs. Undoubtedly, the concepts of equity and efficiency have overarching importance in healthcare. While efficiency dictates an 'economical' use of the limited healthcare resources, equity advocates their fair and ethical use. Some have leaned on this to argue that one has to be forgone in search of the other. In search of a 'middle ground', this paper explores the conceptual underpinnings of equity and efficiency in the context of healthcare resource allocation with some empirical examples from high-income and low- and middle-income settings. We conclude by arguing that equity and efficiency are, and ought to be, treated as complementary rather than conflicting considerations in distributing health resources. Each could be pursued without necessarily compromising the other-what matters is an explicit criterion of what will be 'equitable' in ensuring efficient allocation of resources, and on the other hand, what options will be considered more 'efficient' when equity objectives are pursued. Thus, equity can be achieved in an efficient way, while efficiency can drive the attainment of equity.
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Registered trials
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.