Healthcare systems and Covid19: Lessons to be learnt from efficient countries

Abstract

Background The novel coronavirus is rapidly spreading over the world and puts the health systems of countries under intense pressure. High hospitalization levels due to the pandemic outbreak have caused the intensive care units to work above capacity. Purpose A data envelopment analysis (DEA) based modelling approach was developed to evaluate the effectiveness of regions (i.e. city, country or clinical commissioning groups) against the pandemic outbreak. The objective is to enable related authorities better manage the struggle against the outbreak and put in place the emergency action plans immediately. Methodology/Approach DEA method was used to measure the efficiency scores of countries. Super efficiency DEA method was also applied to countries based on the level of efficiencies they have achieved. Sixteen countries were selected that have been facing with Covid19 pandemic outbreak for at least 5 consecutive weeks after their 100th confirmed case. Results A total of 80 DEA models were developed, that is, 16 DEA models for each week. The percentage of efficient countries decreased dramatically over time, from 43.75% in the first week to 25% in the fifth week. Unlike most European countries, China and South Korea increased their effectiveness after first week of implementing all the necessary measures. Conclusion This study sheds light into better understanding the effectiveness of policies adopted by countries and their management strategy in dealing with Covid19 pandemic. Our model will enable political leaders to identify inadequate policies as quickly as possible and learn from their peers for more effective decisions.

COVID-19 and the efficiency of health systems in Europe

“…The most inefficient countries were Belgium, Italy and UK (< 0.25), followed by Spain, Netherlands (0.25–0.50); during the relaxation period, the lowest efficiency of health systems was registered in Bulgaria and Romania, and in the second wave, in Hungary. Our results are similar to those obtained by [ 13 , 17 , 20 ].…”

“…For the period of second wave , only one country (Norway) is efficient (3%), the rest of the countries having, in general, lower efficiencies than in the first wave. The results obtained are similar to the previous ones obtained by [ 13 , 14 , 17 , 18 , 20 ], which in turn calculates the efficiency of some components of the health system during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…The regression analysis shows that during this period the degree of education of the population was very important, which directly influenced the efficiency of the health system. Similar results were obtained by [ 13 , 14 , 16 , 21 ].…”

“…in order to calculate the efficiency of the health systems of 16 countries, in the first 5 weeks after the pandemic, it is shown that most states have experienced a decrease in efficiency, while some (South Korea, Singapore, China) have managed to adopt appropriate measures to limit the virus [ 13 ];…”

COVID-19 Crisis Management: Global Appraisal using Two-Stage DEA and Ensemble Learning Algorithms

“…To prevent coronavirus transmission, especially COVID-19, Loey et al [35] proposed a hybrid deep and machine learning model for face mask recognition. Ordu et al [36] evaluated the performance of the healthcare systems of 16 countries in preventing the COVID-19 pandemic. Their objective was to enable health policymakers to better manage the fight against the disease outbreak and implement emergency action plans immediately.…”