Impacts of Decision Support Systems on Hospital Efficiency: A Data Envelopment Analysis Model

Abstract

This study examined whether decision support systems (DSS) matter in hospital efficiency. We used data envelopment analysis to measure the hospital’s efficiency, with four inputs and three outputs - inpatients, outpatients, and total patient revenue. Results showed hospitals with more DSS were significantly more efficient than hospitals with fewer DSS. Furthermore, hospitals with fewer full-time equivalent physicians, more full-time registered nurses, and more beds had greater efficiency. For hospital efficiency, the number of beds was the highest impact factor, followed by the number of registered nurses, and the number of fulltime equivalent physicians.