Efficiency is dependent on the control of supply.
At a time when health care systems are undergoing reform, it is useful to review the causes of inefficiency in health care, along with potential solutions. Such solutions can affect suppliers (supply-side measures) or users of care (demand-side measures). This paper argues that to have an efficient health care system, supply-side measures must be implemented. Some examples of supply-side measures, with particular relevance to the Hong Kong situation, are discussed. By their nature, supply-side measures require government intervention. Only then, can allocative efficiency, as well as technical efficiency, be achieved. Once a health care system is operating efficiently, it is an easier task to determine whether the system requires more resources, either currently, or in the future.
McGhee
S M
SM
Department of Community Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Leung
G M
GM
Hedley
A J
AJ
D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans