Efficiency in Health Care Systems Essay - 2288 Words

Its without doubt that there are countless ways to define efficiency in the health care system. The different structures of the health care systems around the world give rise to discrepancies in the definitions present. Yet such definitions all share common elements. Hence a unanimous statement of what efficiency is should be adopted to allow the fair evaluation of health care systems internationally. Efficiency should be simply defined as the balanced relationship between the inputs to health care and the maximized outputs that are generated from such inputs. Efficiency can be split into three broad categories, operational efficiency, allocative efficiency and administrative efficiency (Elizabeth A. McGlynn, et al. 2008). With this†¦show more content†¦2009 p.18). An OECD study conducted in 2007 which compared unit costs found there was a potential for the reduction of costs. For countries such as Australia, France, Sweden and the US, such costs could be reduced by 5-48%. F or the same output, it was estimated that Australia had to the potential to reduce 42% of costs. In terms of duplication of services, Australia’s rate of duplicating services was at 12% in 2008 compared to that of other countries such as 18% in Germany, 20% in the US, 10%, 11% and 7% (Survey of Sicker Adults 2005, 2008) in Canada, New Zealand and the UK, respectively. This shows that Australia is considered to be an average performer in this respect but seeing that there are such margins, Australia and other countries such as the US can still increase their efficiency. With the prevalence of test results being unavailable, 2008 results show that Australia was again an average performer with 17% of tests or medical records not being available at the time of assessment of sick patients. Here, Australia was topped by the Netherlands, Germany and the UK whom had 11%, 12%, and 15% (Survey of Sicker Adults 2005, 2008) of cases respectively. Human error and related adverse events a re also of significance towards affecting efficiency with Australia being outperformed by the US by 9.3% of admissions. TheShow MoreRelatedDelivering Cost Effective Healthcare Services1283 Words   |  6 PagesIn recent years, governments are searching for ways to deliver the equity, efficiency, cost-effectiveness healthcare services to maintain and improve their health systems (WHO, 2004). The aim of equal access to health care for all population groups is the common target for many health care systems. The Australian health care system provides resources on the equal access of a mixed private and public funding system which covers the entire population. As Palmer Torgerson (1999) pointed out thatRead MoreThe Future Of Americas Health Care System1510 Words   |  7 Pagesfuture of America’s health care system looks bright with new innovations coming about. 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