新設醫療院所選擇醫療區域之研究－－資料包絡分析法之運用

Application of Data Envelopment Analysis to Medical Region Selection for New Hospital

醫院設置地點之決定首先必須選擇醫療區域，且醫院一旦設置後，將會帶給醫療區域不少的醫師與醫療設備。這會影響醫療區域之醫療資源分配，更會直接造成當地醫療院所間之競爭加劇，以及政府是否同意興建的問題，故醫療區域的決定具重要的政策意涵。本文根據空間競爭理論將醫療照護相關資料，透過資料包絡分析建構效能指標，來探討台灣地區醫療照護分配之公平性。並從此公平性來瞭解有那些醫療區域之醫療資源是相對不足，而有相對較低的競爭程度，是值得投入醫療資源的。本文之研究結果，可以提供醫療院所擬定選擇醫療區域政策之參考，不但可避免投入醫療資源過剩之醫療區域，而且可以減少因過度競爭而產生之風險。

Selecting medical region is a cornerstone in establishing a new hospital. Various physicians and facilities are introduced to the selected medical region during this selection process, and may influence the distribution of medical resources in that medical region. Furthermore, the competition among different institutes in the medical region may be enhanced and the government will also have to consider the issue of medical resources distribution. This study used spatial competition theory to identify effective indicators using data envelopment analysis (DEA) for exploring the equality of medical resources distribution among regions, and used this model to identify medical regions that lacked medical resources. Less competitive places ere considered deserving of investment. The considerations involved in establishing a brand new hospital are complex, and this study can help avoid investment risks in overly competitive places.