Taiwan quality indicator project and hospital productivity growth

Shyr-Juh Chang; Hsing-Chin Hsiao; Li-Hua Huang; Hsihui Chang

doi:10.1016/j.omega.2010.01.006

Taiwan quality indicator project and hospital productivity growth

Omega. 2011 Jan;39(1):14-22. doi: 10.1016/j.omega.2010.01.006. Epub 2010 Jan 20.

Authors

Shyr-Juh Chang¹, Hsing-Chin Hsiao², Li-Hua Huang², Hsihui Chang³

Affiliations

¹ Chihlee Institute of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan.
² National Taipei College of Business, Taipei, Taiwan.
³ Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Abstract

The Taiwan Quality Indicator Project (TQIP) is a quality management program that measures and monitors the healthcare quality of hospitals in Taiwan. This paper examines the impact of TQIP participation on hospital productivity growth with the application of the Malmquist productivity change index based on data envelopment analysis (DEA). Analyzing operations data from 31 TQIP regional hospitals over the period 1998-2004, we find that TQIP hospitals improved their productivity in the post-TQIP period. This improvement is attributable to quality change and relative efficiency progress. The simultaneous enhancement in both quality and relative efficiency coincides with the philosophy of total quality management (TQM) spirit, and confirms the efficiency improvement and quality assurance functions of TQIP.

Keywords: Data envelopment analysis (DEA); Malmquist productivity change index; Taiwan Quality Indicator Project (TQIP).