Comparative Analysis of the Technical Efficiency of Public Hospitals in the Maule Region, Chile, 1999-2004

Palabras clave: Distancia estocastica, frontera de produccion, panel de datos, sistema de salud. Abstract. The aim of this study is to compare the technical efficiency of the 13 public hospitals of the Maule region, Chile. The estimates were done with the stochastic frontier production method using a translogarithmic function. The information used came from a data panel for the 1999-2004 period, obtained from the Anuarios Estadisticos del Servicio de Salud del Maule (Health Service of the Maule Region Statistical Yearbooks). The 13 hospitals as a whole show a decreasing evolution of the technical efficiency, from 60% in 1999 to 57% in 2004. In terms of their complexity level, the evolution of the efficiency shows a similar trend, although there is a small difference in the level 3 and 4 hospitals, where the technical efficiency rates are slightly higher than the ones in level 1 and 2. It could be inferred that there is an inefficient use of the resources in the health system. In addition, the hospitals with more complexity are more efficient.