Romanian Healthcare System at a Glance

The Romanian healthcare system is facing constant challenges to produce high quality care with low costs. The paper aims to analyze the efficiency of the Romanian healthcare system in terms of resources allocation. The evaluation and the dimension of healthcare system efficiency are important for identifying a balance between the resources required and the health outcomes. Previous studies describe the Romanian healthcare system as a system in transition. This study focuses on the relationship between the inputs and outputs of the system. In order to assess the efficiency of the Romanian healthcare system we use Data Envelopment Analysis approach. Both input and output healthcare indicators are observed for the period 1999-2010 and the years when healthcare inputs have been used efficiently are identified. The results show that human, financial, and technological resources have been used at maximum capacity in 1999, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2010. Though efficiency is defined differently by diverse stakeholders, healthcare policies should focus on rising the responsibility of communities and individuals for better treatments and services and better access to information on healthcare providers. The paper is an empirically based study of the healthcare resources allocation in Romania.