First among (UN) equals: assessing hospital performance using data envelopment analysis.

This article explores the use of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) as a comparative analytic tool to assess the relative effectiveness of competing hospitals. Building on previous research with DEA in hospital efficiency analysis, the authors extend the earlier technical efficiency-based DEA models to include qualitative outcome measures. Data from hospitals in a regional competitive health care market in South Florida are assessed using this new DEA model.