[Empirical analysis of relationship between scales and outputs of inpatient services of public comprehensive hospitals in Beijing area].

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the relationship between scale and outputs of inpatient services of public general hospitals.

METHODS

Data on hospital scales and outputs were drawn from Beijing Health Statistics Annuals and the Database of Inpatient Record administered by Beijing Health Bureau. The outputs of inpatient services were measured, risk-adjusted by Beijing Diagnosis Related Groups (BJ-DRGs). Based on the Cobb-Douglas production function, regression analysis was used to evaluate the contribution of manpower and material resources to the changes in outputs of hospitals on different scales, respectively.

RESULTS

Public general hospitals with 200-800 beds were at the stage of economical scale. In the 200-500-bed hospitals, investment of both human and material resources contributed to output changes. In the 501-800-bed hospitals, output changes were positively correlated with manpower input, but not with material resources.

CONCLUSION

In the specific environment in Beijing, medium-sized hospitals are appropriate when the government plan to build hospitals mainly focused on inpatient services. The larger the scale of hospitals is, the more important is the manpower imput. The personnel system reform for public hospitals is urgent.