Efficiency in health care systems…continued

For the second analysis we used 2 variables as inputs, which are physician’s ratio per a population of 10,000 and hospital beds ratio per a population of 1,000; and 2 variables as outputs: i) infant mortality rate and ii) life expectancy in women between 40 and 44 years of age. Likewise, data was obtained for countries in the American Continent and OECD countries, for years 1990 and 2008 (1991 and 2007 in case there was not information available).

Out of the 28 countries analyzed, 15 were more efficient in 2008 than in 1990. Trinidad and Tobago, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Netherlands, Paraguay, Austria, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Dominica, Peru, and Jamaica registered an index greater than 1. With respect to the efficiency change, the following graph shows that Mexico, Belgium, Portugal, Austria, Netherlands, Peru, Jamaica, and Dominica were better off in 1990 than they were in 2008.