Approach in Inputs & Outputs Selection of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Efficiency Measurement in Hospital: A Systematic Review

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has been employed as a performance evaluation tool in the evaluation of efficiency and productivity in numerous fields. This includes hospitals in particular as well as the broad healthcare industry. This review examines 89 papers that discuss the use of DEA in hospitals, paying particular attention to approaches for choosing inputs and outputs as well as the most recent developments in DEA studies. English articles with empirical data from year 2014-2022 (Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Springer Link, and Google Scholar) were extracted based on PRISMA methodology. DEA Model parameters were specified based on previous studies and approaches were identified narratively. The approaches can be grouped into four: (1) Literature review, (2) Data availability, (3) Systematic method and (4) Expert judgement. The approaches were applied as one strategy either by itself or in combination with others. This reviews emphasis on approaches used in hospital may constrain its conclusions. There might be another strategy or method used to select the input and output for a DEA study in a different area or strategies based on different viewpoints. The trend for DEA application were quite similar to previous studies. There is no evidence that one model fits all DEA model parameters better than another. Based on the reviewed literature, we offer some recommendations and methodological principles for DEA studies.