{"title":"Efficiency of Public Procurement in the Czech and Slovak Health Care Sectors","authors":"J. Nemec, M. Kubák, G. Donin, Zuzana Kotherová","doi":"10.24193/TRAS.62E.7","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Health systems in most (if not all) countries perpetually struggle with financial problems and search for resources to cover health care needs. Increased efficiency of health procurement has the potential to save a lot of money and to reallocate them to treatments. The aim of our study is to analyze technical efficiency (efficiency/economy dimension) and allocation efficiency (effectiveness) of public procurement in health care facilities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, countries whose health systems are governed by the principle of universal access to high quality health services. Concerning the technical efficiency, the results show a low rate of competitiveness whereby the potential of competition is not exploited. In terms of allocation efficiency, our research also sufficiently illustrates the criticality of the situation; however, compared to the element of technical efficiency the situation in the evaluated countries is different. In Slovakia, purchases are usually decided by doctors and procurement is prepared without the necessary ex-ante analysis. In the Czech Republic, the ex-ante evaluation of purchasing of medical equipment is regulated, however, the decision-making process is non-transparent and does not guarantee allocative efficiency. The study has critical policy implications – both countries should urgently adopt measures to improve their respective procurement processes.","PeriodicalId":45832,"journal":{"name":"Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences","volume":"17 1","pages":"115-133"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0000,"publicationDate":"2021-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.24193/TRAS.62E.7","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
Health systems in most (if not all) countries perpetually struggle with financial problems and search for resources to cover health care needs. Increased efficiency of health procurement has the potential to save a lot of money and to reallocate them to treatments. The aim of our study is to analyze technical efficiency (efficiency/economy dimension) and allocation efficiency (effectiveness) of public procurement in health care facilities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, countries whose health systems are governed by the principle of universal access to high quality health services. Concerning the technical efficiency, the results show a low rate of competitiveness whereby the potential of competition is not exploited. In terms of allocation efficiency, our research also sufficiently illustrates the criticality of the situation; however, compared to the element of technical efficiency the situation in the evaluated countries is different. In Slovakia, purchases are usually decided by doctors and procurement is prepared without the necessary ex-ante analysis. In the Czech Republic, the ex-ante evaluation of purchasing of medical equipment is regulated, however, the decision-making process is non-transparent and does not guarantee allocative efficiency. The study has critical policy implications – both countries should urgently adopt measures to improve their respective procurement processes.
期刊介绍:
TRAS represents a collective effort initiated by an international group aimed at boosting the research in the field of public administration in a country where during the communist regime there was no tradition in this sense. TRAS represents a unique source of specialized analysis of the ex-communist space, of the transition processes to democracy, of the reform of public administration, and of comparative analysis of administrative systems. The general topic covered by the articles in the Review is administrative sciences. As a result of an interdisciplinary, modern approach, the articles cover the following specific themes: Public management, public policy, administrative law, public policy analysis, regional development, community development, public finances, urban planning, program evaluation in public administration, ethics, comparative administrative systems, etc. TRAS encourages the authors to submit articles that are based on empirical research. From the standpoint of the topic covered, TRAS is lined up with the trends followed by other international journals in the field of public administration. All articles submitted to the Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences have to present a clear connection to the field of administrative sciences and the research (both theoretical and empirical) should be conducted from this perspective. Interdisciplinary topics related to organizational theory, sustainable development and CSR, international relations, etc. can be considered for publication, however the research needs to address relevant issues from the perspective of the public sector. Articles which use highly specialized econometrics models as well as studies addressing macro-economic topics will not be considered for evaluation. The decision on whether a certain topic falls within the interest of TRAS belongs to the editors and it is not connected with the overall quality of the work submitted.